Hoods
by Ninja Sheep
Summary: Joeth wasn't the type of boy to hurt anybody, and he never meant to put anyone in danger, but truth be told the disease had slowly begun to take its toll on his mind. Holding onto his last bit of sanity to save a girl in trouble was just about enough to make him lose it. And without her to keep him sane, his thoughts slowly begin to turn dark. Later chapters may change rating to M.
1. Ethan

**Author's Note**

**Hi! This is my one of my first stories, because I'm new here, so please R&R kindly! I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own 5 of the characters. 2 of them are actually from another story I'm writing. So, please enjoy, and tell me any fixes I need to do, and how you liked it. Thanks for reading!**

I keep running, the black hooded figure chasing me all the way until the end of the dark alley, and still after that. I pant hard, just barely keeping the chase. The hooded figures go faster, and finally one pounces with a cry, and gets me by the leg. I fall hard, arms out in front of me, wild brown hair strewn on the concrete.

"I've got you now!" the hooded man grins evilly from under that dreaded hood of his. I try screaming for help, but I know its useless; once they got you, you're a goner. The one who caught me puts me over his shoulder and the pack and they jump from roof to roof, as terrified tears start creeping into my eyes. We finally reach a dark alley where they puts me down, then back up to make room as more come around. I only slightly know what they are, and the one who caught me, I used to know. His name was Ethan. He was my best friend. I started to have a crush on him, and him on me. But then disease hit the country, turning everyone except a rare few into mindless zombies. Ethan and I hid out in a shelter, until the they found us, and Ethan protected me. But one of them bit him, and he fell to the ground, and as he did, his black hood slipped over his head, becoming part of him, and turning him into the monster he is now.

"Why so scared? I _am_ your best friend after all." he says to me, trying his best to smile, but ending up just looking even more insane and corrupt.

"You're not my friend." I whisper.

"Oh really? Then what about those times in the field? Under the starry sky? _Our little moment in 8th grade? _Hmmmm?" he asks, tilting his head slightly. That moment he's talking about? Well in 8th grade, our lips sort of met for a moment. But it wasn't with him, no, it was with the real Ethan, my best friend.

"How bout reenacting that scene for my boys here?" he says lifting up my chin with his index and middle fingers. "Hmmmm?"

I try pulling away from him, but he just smiles wider, "Oh come now, yes I'm a zombie, but doesn't change anything, now does it?" grinning ever wider, he pulls me close, and just about sucks my soul out through my mouth.

A loud shriek comes from the rooftop, cutting Ethan short, as everybody looks, another hooded figure pounces down, it looks just like the others, except it has large, laser red eyes, and an almost animated-looking Cheshire cat grin where its face is under its hood. The grin is worked into a growling, dog-like position, and a deep growling comes from it.

"A halfie! Take care of this nuisance!" Ethan snorts. Another shriek alerts us to another one pouncing down, it's a little shorter than the other one, but looks exactly the other one, except it gives off a more feminine aura.

"Another! Kill them both!" Ethan tells the pack. They whole group start growling at Ethan's orders, and the "halfies" show no fear. Then the pack start running toward them, and when they're about a foot away, the two spring into action, and about a minute or two, most of the pack were slammed into a wall, knocked out, and some even dead, and the rest were beat up badly and retreating.

_They're good._ I think. Ethan, snarling, signals the rest to follow, and jumps onto a rooftop. When we reach up there, the two are unseen, but as soon as Ethan gets up there, he's jumped by the smaller one, who elbows him just below the throat, he falls back, unconscious. The smaller one then disappears. The pack, with its leader now knocked out, they turn to me, I quickly run to the edge of the building, looking down, I look back, and the pack start closing in. With a slight cry, the taller one jumps, landing to the left of me, and sliding back until his shoe touches the edge of the building, so that he's crouching right next to me. He growls slightly as his red eyes scan the pack. As they get closer, his growls grow louder, and he puts a hand forward, mouth in flat line, teeth sharp and moving in rhythm with his growling, and a moan comes from the crowd, Ethan comes out, holding his, moaning slightly. The one next to me glares at him and his growls grow even louder. Then in one quick movement, he turns around, wraps his arm around my waist, and leaps off the side of the building.


	2. Hunters and Hoods Off

**Author's Note**

**Hi again! Okay, this is chapter 2 of Hoods. And I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own all my OCs (Joeth, Madle, Ethan, Violet, and any others I might put in later...). Oh, and Joeth and Madle are originally from another book I'm writing, which I may publish soon, or maybe not. Either way, please R&R! And enjoy!**

"Crap." the hooded zombie grunts as we land hard on the ground, but despite the harsh landing, he starts running faster than a tiger as soon as we reach the ground. I'm surprised that the pack hasn't come chasing us yet, but sure enough, about a minute later, they're on our tail. He notices this, and takes to the rooftops. After about half an hour, we enter a different territory, which I've learned from past experience, that the pack and any other of the hooded zombies won't go into. I don't know how far he's taking me, or where we're going, but after about 3 more rooftops, and he stops. He goes over and sets me down leaning against a generator-looking thing, then backs up and sits across from me, and for a moment just stares at me, face blank. Then collapses, panting, and a long tongue coming out from his animated-like mouth, making him look silly. Any other time, I would have probably laughed, but I still stare at him with fear. And without warning, then tears off his hood. Still panting, he shakes out his shaggy, dirty blond hair, and then looks up at me with chocolate brown eyes.

"You okay?" he asks me, staring deep into my bright green eyes, as if seeing through my soul. He's very handsome, and I don't know what to say. He then grins, and the gap in his teeth makes me smile nervously.

He grins wider, "See? You're safe with me, oh, and my my name's Joeth. I'm a half blood, I'm half human and half zombie, which means I can take off my hood and be human, or put it back on and be zombie," he explains.

A slight cry, and the one from earlier stalks in, sits next to Joeth, and takes her hood off, revealing forest green eyes, reddish hair, and pale skin with light freckles.

Grinning, she asks Joeth, "How's she doin?"

"I think she's still scared of us..." Joeth replies, looking at her.

"Well, she kinda has a right to, after what those Hunter bas-" Joeth shoots her a look, "almost did to her." she finishes.

"What?" I finally ask.

"She speaks!" the girl says.

"Madle!" Joeth hisses, "Let her speak..."

The girl-Madle-mumbles something, but lets me continue.

"What'd you call them?" I ask quietly.

"Hunters. That's what they are, that's what we are." he replies simply.

I sit up, about to speak, but something in Madle's pocket starts ringing, she pulls it out, opens it up, and putting it to her ear, holds up a one minute sign with her finger.

"Yeah?" she says into it, and I now recognize it as a cell phone. Somebody yells on the other line, but I can't understand them, but they sound frantic.

"Stay calm, I'll over there soon," Madle closes the phone, claps her hands, and stands up. "Okay kiddies, I gotta run, Mel's in trouble!"

"Bring back some food!" Joeth points out.

"Why? You got dinner right there!" Madle gestures to me.

He glares at her, and she chuckles, putting a hand to her mouth, "Kidding! But yeah, I'll try." With that, she puts her hood back on, flashes us a grin that could give the Chesire cat a run for his money, then jumps off the side of the building.

Joeth and I turn back to each other.

"Well, that's Madle, she's always on the run, saving people, killing others. She does all the dirty work, I really don't like that kind of stuff, besides, she's all about it." he says with shrug.

I nod, still frowning slightly.

"Something gotcha down?" he asks, brow furrowing. I shake my head. "Okay, well you should get some sleep. You've had a tough day, kid." I didn't like being called "kid", but something about him calms me, so I nod my head, lay down, and fall into a restless sleep.


	3. A Flash from the Past's Beginning

**Author's Note**

**Hi! I really need reviews, so please review, and giving me any ideas or stuff I can do to make the story better is always welcome and appreciated. Anyway, I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs (Joeth, Madle, Ethan, Violet...blah blah blah). Anyway, please review and Enjoy!**

_She sits there, unaware to the rest of the world, sleeping. I stare at her, I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous. There she sleeps, safe and hopefully as comfy as can be. But me? I probably made the most huge mistake of my life saving this girl. I'm gonna have that pack on my tail until I slice every one of their corrupt little, poor excuses for throats. Oh, and I'll make sure their dead, deader than dead. I'll make sure every last one of them go to hell. I'll take them down there myself if I have to, drag them down there until my very soul lights on fire._

I start to glare, fire coming out of my eyes literally, losing control of myself again.

_I'll pull them out of every lake of fire while they scream, beg for mercy, then I'll just smile at them and throw them back into the depths like the useless little fish they are. They'll suffer alright. I'll make sure of that. For every person they've ever hurt. For Jamen. For Ella. For Barth. For this girl. For everyone they've ever...!_

_"_J-Joeth?" a timid voice calls my name. I quickly relinquish the flames by shaking my head. I look left and right, searching for the speaker of the voice, then notice the scared girl I totally forgot about sitting right across from me. I grin, eyes closed. That stupid gap in my teeth for some reason makes everybody smile, and sure enough, the girl gives a small smile.

"What's up?" I ask her, still smiling.

She sits up a little. "Well I woke up, and your eyes were all on fire and scary." she replies.

I'm frightened by this. "They were?"

"Yeah, it was creepy, they were, like huge."

I swear, if it were a cartoon, I would have done that little teardrop thing as I put my hand on the back of my head. "Heh, being a zombie has...bad parts to it."

"Like what?" she asks, sitting up more, eyes and ears perked. Her questions are really starting to worry me; they're getting too explicit.

"Uh,...things. Like...part...rotting flesh?" I don't really know what else to say without giving away the parts like where you sometimes lose control of your own mind and if not saved from it soon enough that it'll drive you permanently insane. Stuff like that.

"Ew!" she says with a grin.

"Yeah it's pretty bad sometimes when the maggots start breaking skin." I reply with a mysterious and sinister grin.

"That's so gross!" she says, waving her hands in front of her with a wide grin.

"Yeah, and when the vultures come around, it's real hard to keep off ya. And they're like taking on a wolf depending on size and if they're a girl or boy." I reply...maybe stretching the truth...maybe just a little. I don't why I feel like this around this girl as we laugh and talk about random things. I've literally almost never felt this free with a girl. We keep talking so freely, it feels like it'll never end. But...she asks it, finally asks the question we all dread.

"So, how'd ya get turned?" she asks, a big goofy grin on both our faces. But mine fades quickly, face turning white like crazy. Hers fades quickly, recognizing immediately that this is a touchy subject.

"Oh, sorry...didn't realize...you don't have to answer..." she says, looking down, a slight frown.

"It's okay, I've just never,*sigh*,never told it to anyone but Madle..." I reply, also looking down.

"But you still don't want to tell it to anyone?" she asks, definitely still interested.

I'm still nervous, but I decide to tell it anyway...

"Well, it kind of started like this..." I start.

***Flashback***

_Two lone boys walk quietly on a sunny beach, joking around. The place looks much like any Earth beach, except the fact that it's on Planet Allath. They look like Earth boys; blond hair, chocolate brown eyes, twins. As the two boys walk, a man stands in the low water. Laughing, they don't notice the man until they're about a few __feet away._

_"Hey! Get out of our way old man!" the slightly taller one yells at the man._

_"Zak, don't be so mean..." the other one says._

_Zak snorts, "Joeth, don't be so naive, you gotta have strength, learn to fight for your right!"_

_"To party?" Joeth asks, a bored tone deep in his voice._

_Zak sighs, crossing his arms, "You gotta learn, yo."_

_"Zak, I'm not like you, probably never will be." he sighs._

_He just snorts in disagreeing. "Watch and learn little bro..."_

_He goes up to the man and pushes him forward, making him stumble, "I told you to get out of our way!" Joeth watches in horror as the man turns around, revealing his misshapen face and purple and blue skin, along with scars and and fresh wounds. The bite in which was now a demented purple color and revealed maggots wriggling inside of his neck proved it all. Zak takes a few steps back as the man then puts his arms out in front of him, reaching for the two boys and started to moan deeply, as he staggered toward them. As the two run, they are horrified to find a huge horde of more of the brainless stalkers. After a few moments, the boys find themselves surrounded. They go back to back as the horde shows no signs of dispersing._

_"Zak, run!" Joeth tells his twin._

_"Where?" Zak yells._

_"Just run!" he cries, and they run. Zak makes it through, gray jacket torn to shreds and fresh cuts evident, but alive._

_"Joeth! We-Joeth?" Zak looks around, to see the crowd more to the left, and in the pit, Joeth._

_"Joeth!" as he runs, he hears a cry of his name, and two people come running. His cousin Barth, runs from behind him, grabbing his hands behind his back. Zak trips, and is brought to his knees, crying his twin brother's name over and over again._

_"Zak he's dead. Dead. Zak! Dead." Barth tells him, trying desperately to calm down the distraught youth._

_But Zak wouldn't give up. He wouldn't calm down until his brother was back at his side. Oh, Barth said, pleaded that he was dead, but deep down, Zak could feel that he wasn't. Now he just had to prove it. He then kicked his cousin straight in the shin and ran into the horde, tears running down his face and jumped into the middle of the action. There he saw it all. Beat and torn, his brother stood slugging it out on his brainless opponents. He was the underdog, and though strong as he was, this was an enemy he knew he could only hold back, never defeat._

_"Joeth! I'm right here bud!" Zak cried out, and what happened next, he blames himself to this very day. Joeth stopped-only for a moment-and smiled, that quirky "I knew I could count you" smile, the one with the small chuckle that lifted his shoulders a little. But one of the zombies got smart, and grabbed his ankle, turning him upside down, and that's when the hunter stepped in. At that moment, it shrieked and pounced, landing right in front of Joeth, then taking a huge, infected bite into Joeth's shoulder, which proceeded to flow through his bloodstream rapidly. He cried out and the hunter let go, backing up. The zombie holding Joeth let him fall to ground, body limp, and hood slipped over his head. The whole crowd seemed to hold its breath as Joeth's body just lay there, not a zombie even took a glance at Zak. Joeth was dead, no doubt about it._

_But even death can be defied in the worst possible predicaments. And as that saying goes, "everything is possible", sometimes it may be true. This was a definite possibility for what Zak saw that day._

_Joeth's hand raised, then dug itself into the sand, and the other one followed in suit. The reanimated hands then lifted the body, and shakily stood up as the whole corpse of poor 10 year old Joeth Tabelo was reborn in the worst way possible. In horror, the body the fell into a crouching position. What was once the young and now neither late nor living Joeth Tabelo then looked straight at Zakariath Tabelo as he stared at it in horror._

_"Run Zak!" Bartholomew screamed as a shot rang out, landing right into the chest of a zombie near Zak. "Run!" Barth yells at him again, and Zak finally starts running, tears blurring his vision, he gets into the small car in which his Cousin Ellis was sitting. But as as soon as he was in the car, Ellis started it up, and skidded away. Zak was about to ask about Ella and Barth, but once he looked out the window, he understood. The horde then stood around two figures, he couldn't tell who they were exactly, but he didn't have to. He already knew._

_Ella._

_Barth._

_He had lost 3 friends today. A cousin. A crush. And a brother. No, Joeth was was much more than a brother. He was a friend. A best friend. His best friend. His only friend. As Zak looked out the window, he know he would always remember this as his very own D day._

"And that's pretty much it." I finish, head bowed.

"Wow, that's...that's terrible." she says, tears in her eyes.

I sigh. "Yeah, that's how it happens a lot, though. Family getting separated. Family eating family. Zombification isn't pretty." I reply with a smug smirk. I then yawn despite myself.

"I need some sleep. Madle should be here soon. Wake me up then." I say laying down, arms behind my head, looking up at the stars. I tug my hood over my head.

"Zombies sleep?" she asks quietly.

I nod my head, then fall into a deep sleep, just hoping that I won't lose control of myself again when I wake.


	4. A First for a Witch

**Author's Note**

**Hi! Sorry! I've been so busy with school and homework that I haven't been able to update. I'll try to update at the very least every two days, if not every day. I promise I won't forget! And, please, I really need reviews. Anyway, I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs, blah blah blah. Enjoy!**

As Joeth sleeps, I sit there, boredness setting in and eyes fluttering open and closed. He scared the crap out of me earlier; with that flame thing with his eyes and demonic voice. I'll have to find out more about that later. Maybe Madle will tell me. I shiver. _Madle_. I don't know why, but she kind of scares me. Considering she's probably the last girl on Earth other than me, I should be a little nicer. Maybe less shy too... But as I sit there, I also think about that story that Joeth told me earlier. He had told me that he'd never seen his brother ever again, and if he did, he'd either really mad at him, or he'd hug him like crazy. He told me that Zak was always like that. And when they went to school, he told me that Zak was a girl magnet, he could have become one, but he said that he didn't want to be like his brother. He said he had a bright future, grades soaring high, and hope too. Then this hit him. He got turned, and it all became trying to control himself, and to not attack everything and eat humans. He told me that he once accidentally lost control of himself, and when he woke up, there were 2 dead humans in front of him and blood on his hands and mouth. He swore to himself and his brother that he'd never do it again. I believe him. My savior. My new friend. Joeth. I have to give credit to Madle too, but she still scares me.

I smile slightly, looking at Joeth. His eyes are closed and mouth emotionless.

I sit there, just looking at him. There's a sudden sniff and some soft weeps from the other side of the roof, and I whip my head around, then quickly regret it as I hear a snap. I crawl back, I guess I didn't notice it at first, but I hear, and now see the outline of a girl. Late teens, early 20s. Crying. I know better, but I look closer. I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. But I do. As I look closer, my hand crunches a leaf under it, and the girl looks up.

She's one of them.

No, not the pack, she's not a hunter. No, _worse._

_She's a witch._

Then to my surprise, she,_ it_, stands up. It's too late. I should have run when I could. Now this witch is going to kill me. But my thoughts stopped short. _Joeth._ He's taken on the pack before, I'm sure he can take a witch. But I know I've waited too long when I look up and the witch is now right in front of me. My breath catches in my throat as I watch her and she watches me. We stay like that for a moment. Then, she just collapses right in front of me and sobs. I hesitate, thinking what just happened,adreniline starting to run cold, when I notice it. Right behind her, a hooded figure crouches. I open my mouth to scream, but am grabbed from behind and pulled up to face into a pit less black hood. I try to break free, but its no use. I'm trapped. Captured. Might as well be dead. I close my eyes, waiting for something to happen. Anything. Joeth jumping up and kicking his butt. Madle to suddenly appear and kill the hunter. _Anything._ As I start to feel tears rolling down my face, something happens. Something I wouldn't have ever expected.

**Sorry it's so short. I promise there will be more soon.**


	5. A Lie

**Author's note**

**Hi! Sorry about the bad chapter last time, I wrote that at about 11 o'clock, and my mom got all mad, and blah blah blah. Anyway, here's another update for Hoods, hopefully better than the last chapter. (I still need reviews, so _please_ review!) Anyway, I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs, blah blah blah. Enjoy!**

The witch looks up at me, watching intensely for a second. Then, she starts growling. Deeper and deeper they get, and her eyes form into a malicious red. She then bolts up, rips me out of his grip, throws me on top of Joeth, and ram tackles the hunter. She then gets on top of him, wrestling, and slashing at his hood. I stare at her in wonder as Joeth bolts awake, probably wondering why I'm sitting on him.

"Um. Do I ask why?" he asks, hood off.

I point in the direction of the witch, only to realize she and the hunter are gone.

"What? What's over there?" he asks, confused.

"Nothing." I sigh.

"Okay. Um. Hey, not meaning to be rude, but...you're kind of...on me..." Joeth says, apparently starting to feel awkwardness coming on.

"Wha-? Oh, oh, yeah." I reply, standing up and sitting across from him again. He sits up, stretches, and yawns.

"So, what have you been doin? Has Madle come back?" he asks, looking around with a smile.

"No, not yet..."

"Somethin wrong?" his smile drops.

"Huh, oh. No."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

He looks at me, brown eyes burning into my emerald ones, looking for any signs of a lie. Luckily, he doesn't notice.

"Okay..." he says, with a slight glare. "Cause you know you could tell me." he says, eyes widening just the slightest.

"I know." I say, looking down with a nod.

"Anyway..." he says, arms crossed behind his head, and we start up a conversation.

Later on, he falls asleep again. I'm pretty tired too, but as I let out a breath, mist rises from my mouth; it's freezing. I look over at Joeth, he looks fine. After a moment with my eyes closed, I realize that I can't sleep this cold. I sigh and crawl over silently to Joeth, then lay down beside him, I close my eyes, and fall asleep.

(Joeth's POV)

I open one eye to see the girl laying beside me. I'm a little startled, but I don't want to wake her. She looks so peaceful. Then I look at her oddly. No. I thought for just a moment, maybe...she likes me? I don't know. I'm too nervous to ask her. But I don't want to worry myself thinking about it. I shrug slightly, and wondering what'll Madle say when she gets back, fall asleep.

**...Bad chapter again... Sorry! Promise I'll bust out a lot more better ones over winter break, or sooner! R&R!**


	6. A Sniper and A Dark Alley

**Author's Note**

**Hi! Sorry for the last two chapters. Those were TERRIBLE. I wrote them in a rush. Anyway, let's hope this one is better. Alright, I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs, and other stuff like that. Eh, cross your fingers that this is a much better chapter(because I sure as heck know I am!) that this is a better chapter... R&R! Enjoy!**

In the movies, the guys always get the girl. And to my brother, the world was his movie. Every girl he ever liked, she would fall for him, then Zak would kick her to the curb. And she wouldn't even mind. I'm different. Never had a girlfriend. But when I do, I am _not_ treating her like Zak does. But as I toss and turn in my sleep, all I can think about is that girl, who I guess is still laying next to me. I don't want to tell her to get away; that would be just pure rude. Besides, she was probably freezing over there. As my eyes drearily open up, I sort of give her a nudge, her breath sharpens in, and her wide emerald eyes open up.

"Huh?" she asks quietly.

I yawn,"You gotta wake up; it's not safe for you to be asleep for too long."

She lets out a small groan, but sits up, propping on her elbows. As I do the same, the almost entirely unused cell phone in my pants pocket goes off. I scowl slightly, then whip it out and put it to my ear.

"Yeah?" I groan, still tired. But tired as I am, I whip the phone away from my ear, but not soon enough to keep my ears from ringing. As soon as my ear hit the phone, loud gunshots were heard.

"Joeth! I need you help! _Now!_" Madle's voice could just be heard above the gunfire emitting from the small phone. But as soon as Madle's voice ended, the line was disconnected, and a buzzing sound came from it.

(Girl's POV)

Joeth turns to me, fear in both of our eyes.

"I gotta go." he jabs his thumb at the edge of the roof, then pulls his hood on, and sprints over, jumping off the roof just as I shout:

"Wait! You can't just leave me here!" but he disappears over the edge. I back up into the corner, just as Joeth's head pops back up, his hood off.

"You're right. Can't just leave you here." he easily climbs up, then coming over to me, grabs my hand, and runs back over. As he crouches lower and jumps, he pulls back on his hood. Halfway down, he pulls me onto his back, and as I hold on for dear life, he flies over to the other building, then latches on and holds tight. Luckily, his grip holds, and we hang onto the side of the brick building for a moment or two. He then jumps onto another building, then to another. He ends up just bouncing around on the edges of the buildings for about an hour. As we jump, I start to hear gunshots in the distance, meaning we're getting closer. As the shots become deafening, and it seems like every one is about to hit you, Joeth stops at the end of an alley, and sets me down, pulling his hood down.

"Madle's in trouble, and-" he stops mid sentence, then grabs the top of my head and ducks, pulling my head down with his, just as a sniper bullet crashes into the wall behind us.

"We gotta get outta here!" I yell to him, throwing my arms around him in fear.

"Can't." Joeth grunts.

I open my mouth to say something, but am interrupted by a cry of:

"Hey hunter bastard! Get away from her!" I suddenly see a boy, a year or two older than me, with brown hair and hazel eyes standing with his rifle and red dot sight trained at Joeth's head, ready to blast his brains out in a second.

"No!" I cry, softly sobbing into Joeth's shoulder, afraid for his death.

"It's okay." Joeth replies, putting his arms around me, and giving me a hug back.

"I told you to get away from her!" the boy said, eyes flashing, finger trigger-happy.

"That's it!" Joeth suddenly clings tighter to me, then starts running. He pulls on his hood, pushes me onto his back, and runs on all fours. I hear the boy try to take pursuit, but fall back quickly, being no match for Joeth's amazing speed. We finally stop a few minutes later in a dark alleyway. I can only see his bright red eyes illuminating only centimeters ahead. He then sets me down, and pulling his hood off, the alley is once again pitch black.

"Joeth? I can't see anything." I reply, feeling around, and locating his hand, slip mine into his, then scoot over to him.

"I don't like it." I reply, panting slightly, adrenaline still fresh, and terrified. But I know I'm safe with Joeth, the handsome half zombie could and would protect me from anything.

I can feel his chest rise up and down as I lay on his shoulder, opening and closing my eyes, then giving up; either way, I can't see anything.

"Joeth?" I ask.

"Yeah?" he replies, and from the slight shake in his voice, I can tell his adrenaline still runs fresh.

"I'm scared." I reply, trying to scoot into him as close as possible.

"Its okay. No zombie would dare come in here." he replies, and I sense him look down at me.

"Why?" I ask, looking up at him, just wishing I could see his chocolate brown eyes.

I swear I see him grin. " Cause I'm here."

I smile, and get closer to him, he follows. Closer, closer, and...

I don't remember anything after that.

**Muh ha ha! Eh, we all know what happens there. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it a lot better than the last two . I've been waiting to write this one for a while. :D Yay! Anyway, nxt update will come ASAP. Anyway please R&R**


	7. First Sun

**Author's Note**

**Hi! Okey dokey, sick all week and got a real bad cough, but Ima be bustin out a whole lot of these all of winter break, which I'm on right now :D. I'm hyper and extremely happy cause I just got my Christmas tree, so crazy things in this chapter. Oh, I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs. Sorry for not updating the whole week, so I'm making up for it. Okay, I think that's it, so on with the story! R&R! Enjoy!**

The first sunlight of the winter filters through the gray clouds to create a dim spotlight in a dark alley on two young teenagers. A pale boy with shaggy shoulder-length dirty blond hair and chocolate brown eyes, and a tanned girl with wild brown hair and emerald green eyes lay in the spotlight, barely moving until the boy's eyes scrunch up as the brightening sun seeps through his eyelids. He slowly opens his eyes, then jolts awake and jumps back into the fading shadows of the way. Startled by his movement, the girl opens her eyes and sits up.

"Joeth?" she asks looking in the direction he jumped. As her eyes adjust into light again, she can just barely see the outline of the hooded boy in the shadows.

"The sun..." he murmurs.

The girl looks up, notices the sunlight, and turns back to him, a smile playing on her lips.

"The sun. I haven't seen it in so long..." she says, looking at the ribbons of gold from where stars were only hours before.

The boy-Joeth-backs further into the darkness as the light grows larger. The girl's smile suddenly fades, and she looks at Joeth.

"I never did tell you my name did I?" she asks, a little ashamed of herself for going nameless in his eyes.

"Well, I'm Violet." she says with a smile, as if meeting him for the first time. "Now will you please come out of the dark? I can't see you."

"Can't..." is all he says as he backs up further, head down.

"Stop acting like that!" she curls into a small ball, pressing her knees against her chest.

Joeth hesitates, not knowing what to do; he can sense something, something bad, but he wants to comfort the girl-Violet. He cares for her, but if he goes out there, they'll see him.

_Screw it_ he thinks, and slowly crawls out. Violet smiles. But as soon as he's out, a huge explosion encases the alley in a thick red-brown mass of a cloud. Joeth is blown back from it, and from behind the mass, 4 humans come running out. Joeth scrambles up, and jumps. But in mid-flight, one human sends out his hand, unleashing a rope, which coils around Joeth's feet, pulling him back to the concrete. He turns to see Violet watching him, but she is being pulled up by a teenage boy.

(Joeth's POV)

Violet screams my name ans reaches towards me. I want nothing more to tear off my hood and call back to her, but as I pull out my hand, a chain this time wraps around my wrist like a whip. Three humans walk around me, almost like dancing, mocking me. My other wrist is pulled tight, and I clench my fist. With all the strength left in me, I give a sharp heave on my left one, and my strength superior to human's, making the person go flying through the air and landing with a crash in the bricks of a wall. I do the same with the other one, making a girl this time go flying. I then front flip and bite the chains is half. When I land, I crouch again, and jump, landing a few feet from Violet and the boy pulling her. The boy has short brown hair and hazel eyes, and he looks at me in terror for a moment, then glares. I return the glare, and cry at him, baring my teeth so that they show their full length and sharpness. I pounce on the boy, but at last second pull up, making my foot connect with his chest instead. He goes down hard, and I take Violet's hand again, and tear out of there fast.

**Sorry its so short. More coming soon. R&R!**


	8. An Altenate Gunshot

**Author's Note**

**Hi! Sorry about the wait, but I've had to dive into bushes, go under tables, go up creaky ladders, climb up a wall, and go into my attic. Its been a tough day. Oh, I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs, blah blah blah. Okay, I've decided to change the ending on the last chapter in this chapter, if that makes any sense. But I think it will make this a lot more interesting. So, enjoy!**

(Joeth's POV)

I wish that last part was true. Really, I've never wanted anything that bad. But the truth is the truth. Besides, I'm not that good a story teller. Anyway...

(Violet's POV)

The blast from the grenade sends Joeth flying back. From the ash of the grenade comes four people carrying guns and other things. Three of them go after Joeth, and fourth one kneels in front of me. He's a teenager, about my age, with short brown hair and hazel eyes.

"You okay? That hunter didn't hurt you now did he?" he asks me.

"No, he's my friend, he wouldn't hurt me." I say, how could they think that Joeth would hurt me?

"Well, thats not your friend anymore, hes a hunter now." he replies.

"No, really he wouldn't, he- what the _hell_ are you doing to him?" I say, looking at the boy's friends, they look like they're tying him up.

"Joeth!" I scream, hoping he'll be okay. I see Joeth look at the two people circling him, then I see him give two long punches to the sides, making the two go flying into the wall. His fangs grow and he bites through the thick chains connecting to the two people. He turns to face me, about ready run. But a sharp gunshot sends him flying to the side, slumping against the wall. The shooter then walks calmly out of the shadows, reloading his pistol.

"You bastard! You shot Joeth!" I shout at him, but the hat covering his eyes hides his reactions, and he walks past me without a word. The other two come out, rubbing their heads.

"I've never seen a hunter so smart; usually they just jump at us." the girl says. She has chocolate colored skin and frizzy black hair in little curls.

"Yeah, but we got him. But did you see those eyes? And that mouth. What the hell was that thing?" the boy asks, his pale skinned and black hair shining in the light.

"His name was Joeth, he was my friend, and a-" I'm cut short by another voice.

"It doesn't matter what the hell it was if its dead now." says another boy as he emerges from the smog. "Now we should get outta here before more of em come." he looks at us with steely black eyes, then turns on heel and walks away, and the others follow behind him. The boy next to me glances at me, hazel eyes soft, then grabs my hand and starts to lead me away. I whisper Joeth's name one last time, just hoping that he'd hear me and just pop up out of nowhere. I look for blood red eyes and a Cheshire grin, but none come. I look sadly at the shadows until we turn the corner and it disappears from sight.

(Joeth's POV)

I can't breath. I clutch my arm to stem the bleeding until I can find something else. I've never been shot before, and I'd actually had nightmares about it. I gotta tell ya, a bullet is a zombie's worst nightmare. So, thanks to the bastard with the pistol, my nightmare is now real life. Well, I got lucky. He wasn't shaken, but I could tell he was unsteady with the gun, and he missed my head by a long shot. But, to say, the guy with the gun, he was familiar. I couldn't see his face, but I could sense I knew him. Oh well. I take a deep breath, then urge myself to stand. I wish Madle was here. She would know how to help. But my thoughts bring me back to Zak, my lost brother. They tend to do that. _A lot._ But despite my mind trying to get off the subject I can still imagine Zak telling me to "take it like a man".

"I'm trying to take it like a man, Zak. But I just got f&in shot!" I mutter under my breath as I struggle to stand up. I finally stand up, only to fall back again. I groan as blackness creeps in around my eyesight. The blackness covers my sight after a moment, and I go unconscious in the the black alley.


	9. Everywhere

**Author's Note**

**Hi! Reaaally sorry! Alright, well, happy belated holidays to all, and happy early New Year's! But for right now, happy New Year's Eve! Okay, I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs...blah blah blah. Eh, okay we left off with Joeth being shot and Violet being taken by some survivors. I think its gonna get a lot better with the other ending to the chapter, or I hope so. Anyway, R&R and enjoy!**

"Joeth... Joeth!" I snap awake to see Madle trying to wake me up, and Mel next to her.

"Hi Mel, hi Madle." I say weakly. "Good to see you're okay Mel."

"Yeah, Mel's alive. No thanks to _you_." Madle says angrily.

"Joeth got shot." Mel quietly sniffs, her black eyes searching my arm. She then gives a sharp poke with her long claw at the bloodstain on my right arm. I give small cry and grab my arm, rolling over slightly. Mel gives a whimper and fresh tears spring to her eyes, which she covers with her murky pinkish hands. She starts crying, and Madle puts her hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. She shoots me a nasty look.

"Great job Joeth, you got Mel crying again." As if on cue, Mel gives a loud sob. "Its okay, Mel, its okay." Madle tells her, ignoring me. I take the chance to crawl away, and look over the side of the building we're on. I would ask how I got up here, but I'm too worried about the girl-Violet was it?. A thought comes to mind, and gritting my teeth, gather the strength I have left-which really isn't much-and stand up.

"And _where_ are _you_ going?" Madle asks me grouchily.

"To find someone." I say quietly, jumping off the roof.

* * *

(Violet's POV)

He's in my dreams all the time, with that Cheshire grin and those blood red eyes. Everywhere I look, he's there. And at night, when the shadows start to look like demons about to rip my soul out, I imagine he's there beside me, ready to protect me like a guardian angel. I miss him so much, it hurts. I can tell that the boy who so-called 'rescued' me-Hale- tries to comfort me, but he doesn't understand; he thinks I'm traumatized from him. None of them understand that he's my friend, and when I try to tell them that he's half human, they ignore me. And that damn one with the hat, he never talks. He's the one who shot Joeth. And because of him, he's dead. That's the thing; I don't know if Joeth's dead or not. It kills me every day, the not knowing. I just hope he's okay.

_12:00 am_

They're all asleep, and once again, Hale sleeps next to me. I hate him. No, I _despise_ him. He took me away from Joeth. I hate him for that reason, and that reason only. And as I look around the camp they've set up in this alley they picked, I realize that I hate all of them for different reasons, but all of them connected with taking me away from Joeth.

I sigh, deciding to look around at my surroundings instead of just glaring at the survivors about whats already been done. My eyes rest on the building in front of me, and as my eyes pass over the shattered and rotten windows, my heart skips a beat and I just manage to stop myself from screaming.

A pair of blood red eyes and a Cheshire grin stare down at me. The face winks, then disappears, only to reappear on the roof. I start to smile as the grin grows wider, then disappears. I look around to see where he is next, only to feel breathe next to me. I swivel my head around, only to see straight into blood red eyes. Despite myself, I grin widely, and throw my arms around him. I don't care if he smells like blood and rotting flesh; I've missed him. I feel one of him arms hug me back, and I see his other one pull his hood off, revealing a grin as big as mine. I let go of him, but maintain eye contact with him.

"Whats up kid?" he asks in a whisper, the gap in his teeth almost making me laugh.

"Well, I thought you were dead for a day or two, but I think that's about it." I tell him quietly.

His smile drops. "I was knocked out in that alley for two days?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I say, shrugging.

He shrugs. "Guess I-" He stops and his ears perk up, his eyes wandering. He pulls his hood back on.

A thought burns into my mind, undoubtedly from Joeth.

"They're waking up." he says, his voice echoing in my head and his eyes wandering along the survivors. His usual Cheshire grin is now in a flat-line frown. "I gotta go." he says, nervous now. He starts backing up, looking at the now waking survivors.

"When will I see you again?" I ask him, worried that I might never again.

"Soon." And that last word before he disappears into the night again echos in my mind for hours.


	10. Mischief

**Author's Note**

**Hi! Sorry for the long wait! Okay, I really gotta wrap this thing up, so the chapters will probably be longer. But when I publish them will vary. But anyway, this is around Chapter 10ish or so. Oh, um and my sidekick will be proof reading these stories, so if there's any problems, please bring all complaints to Boombox Bunny. Boombox Bunny? Dude?**

**Boombox Bunny: *is asleep***

**Me: _ _'**

**Yeah, I should've picked a less LAZY *slams fist on desk* sidekick.**

**Boombox Bunny: *wakes up* I'm up! I'm up!**

**Course you are... Anyway, lemme do the disclaimer real quick: I do not own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs. Okay! Well, enjoy, and PLEASE R&R!**

And it went on like that for a while. Joeth came and went by night, and when I could find him alone when we went out, I would give him a hug. I enjoyed having these silent meetings with him. The group that "rescued" me I know is trying to do the best they can to keep me safe and happy, but what they don't know is that I'm a lot safer-and much happier- with Joeth, and though she still scares me, Madle too.

They can keep me safe with the zombie blood in their veins. I've seen how zombies act around them; they can actually _communicate_ with each other, and they'll listen to whatever they say. If they wanted to, Joeth or Madle could send them after someone, or protect them. The only thing they couldn't do is completely stop them from attacking. But I know that they're 2x stronger than them, and could and would kill them if they went after me.

Speaking of Madle, I haven't seen her in a while. All those times I met Joeth, she was nowhere in sight. Even though I don't really like her-I think she feels the same way about me- I'm still worried. I mean, she tried to protect me as best she could.

"Kid, come on! We need to get moving." The boy named Hale tells me. He really never did learn my name.

"Its Violet." I tell him, standing up.

"Violet." He echoes, grinning. "That's a pretty name."

I look at the ground and keep walking.

(Hale's POV)

What's wrong with her? She's been quiet, and every time I try talking to her, she stays quiet. It can't be that stupid hunter we killed, could it? Well, I'll just have to get her mind off him...

* * *

(Violet's POV)

It's been a full week and I haven't seen Joeth. I'm a little worried.

But, I must admit, my mind hasn't been on him as much as I'd like to say.

That boy Hale, he's been talking to me. A lot.

He doesn't say it, but I know that he's trying to get my mind off 'the hunter', or so he calls Joeth.

And its getting to me.

If Joeth doesn't rescue me soon, I might forget about him.

* * *

(Joeth's POV)

I can't find a way to meet her again. They surround her like wolves to a cub.

It's annoying.

And that Hale boy, well, quite frankly, he's really pissing me off.

He talks to her, day and night.

Just about nothing and everything.

He likes her, I can tell. And I can tell she's growing fond of him as well.

I need to stop them.

But how?

A voice in the back of my head whispers, a voice I haven't heard in about 2 years.

The very same voice I've been blocking out.

The instinct of a zombie.

_Kill _it tells me.

My stomach growls.

I'm starving, and have been for as long as I can remember.

My teeth grow sharper and longer, and my nails grow stronger, eyes hungry, preparing myself self-consciously.

There's no use fighting it now.

The only question now is, _when?_

* * *

(Violet's POV)

We walk, every so often one of them will send off a bullet or two, killing a common infected. We haven't come into contact with any special infected. They think its good luck, but I think its suspicious. Usually there's at least one smoker or spitter, or something. I begin to wonder if Joeth has scared them all away. My imagination then takes me into day dream where Joeth kills all the zombies infecting the world, and the world goes back to normal before they came.

A roar breaks my day dream, and snaps me back into reality, where zombies roam free.

"Tank!" the other boy-Seth- yells as a huge, muscular zombie comes crashing from under the bridge we stand in front of, throwing cars, trucks, concrete, and anything else it can grab.

It rampages through the group, breaking us apart. But, I can tell by the way it looks around, it doesn't want all of us, it only wants one.

Its wild, beady eyes come to rest on one of us.

_Hale_.

* * *

(Joeth's POV)

_Go_. I tell the tank as it looks at me hungrily. It gives out a roar and runs from under the broken freeway bridge I stand on. As I crawl over to the other side, it starts throwing cars and chunks of concrete at the group.

I've told it that if he touches Violet, I'd kill him. But if he caught the brown haired-boy... well, I wouldn't complain. Well, quite frankly, that boy has really made me mad.

I can sense he likes her, and I fear that with the way she talks to him, she's getting too close to him.

_He shall pay. Be patient._ The voice in the back of my head tells me.

I smile wider, imagining the things that tank will do to him.

Hit him with a car...

Crush him with blocks of concrete...

Smack him into a wall...

Eat his brains...

My smile turns to one of a mad scientist as I imagine him being slaughtered.

The tank swings a massive arm, knocking him down. He gives a grunt, and just happens to look up.

Right at the bridge.

Directly at me.

All I do is grin as wide as I possibly can, then swirl into a mist, leaving my eyes and mouth there a moment, then taking them with me.

* * *

(Violet's POV)

It's dead, finally. My breath clogs my throat as the tank falls heavily to the ground, leaving the Earth shaking for a moment.

"Up there! On the bridge!" Hale yells, his eyes wide.

"What's up there?" the black haired-boy named Seth asks, looking on top of the bridge.

"The hunter with the red eyes and teeth!" Hale says, trying to picture the red eyes and teeth by pulling open his eyes and spreading his mouth.

"Okaaaaaaay..." Rex says, looking at him strangely.

He looks around frantically, and comes to rest on, of course, _me._

"It was the one who almost killed you!" He says, pointing at me, and everyone's heads turn towards me. I let my eyes travel over every one of them as they look at me expectantly, waiting for me to say something. I look down and swallow hard.

"I. I..." I stutter, keeping my eyes to the ground. Why would Joeth do such a thing? No. He wouldn't. That's not something he would do. Besides, wouldn't a tank just crush him instead of actually listening to him, wouldn't it?

"Well?" Rex asks impatiently.

I look up. "He wouldn't do that."

"_He_," Rex hisses. "_is a zee. He only cares about your flesh in his mouth."_

_"_No." I tell him boldly. "Joeth _wouldn't do that._"

"Wait, what'd you call him?" the boy in the hat asks. I've never heard him talk before, and apparently neither did anyone else, judging by the way their heads turn and the surprised looks they give him.

I look at him. "Joeth. Why?"

Under his hat, I sense him turn paler than he already is.

I open my mouth to ask something, but a cry disrupts me. We swivel around to see a hunter land about 10 feet away. It lifts its head up, revealing nothing but blackness.

No red eyes.

No grin.

No Joeth.

It lets out another cry, and dozens, maybe even hundreds of hunter swarm from everywhere. The one a few feet away backs up into the crowd, and another one steps forward. Its hood is also dark, but I sense it smiling from underneath its hood.

"_Hello again Violet." _it says, and I realize with a shiver who it is.

_Ethan._

* * *

(Joeth's POV)

Along with causing havoc to the survivors, I've been able to track Ethan and his horde of hunters. And tonight, I happened to hear they were heading to the West side of hunter territory to intercept someone. I didn't hear who they said, but I know that whoever it is, they're in for real trouble, and I need to stop that.

I head west, and arrive in time to see them swarm around. I hide out of their sight in a small alley, if you could call it that. It's just enough room for me to crawl between the two buildings. I cling to each wall with a foot and hand-kinda like a spider- and watch from above. I catch a glimpse of who they're about to attack, and if I could breath in my zombie form, I would've chocked on it.

It's Violet's group.

I hear them talking, and my name gets tossed around. I try to ignore them though, and more on Ethan's group. I'm lucky I did, because I see one jump and land a few feet away. A mere distraction, but I need to be more careful. If that wasn't a distraction, it would've aimed straight for Violet. The distraction is successful, and soon the group of survivors are surrounded by hooded zombies. The distraction steps back, and Ethan steps forward. He speaks, but I don't bother trying to listen; I need to watch him. After a moment, I'm glad I did. From watching him closely, I see him tense up. I do too. When he's ready, I will be too.

He gets lower to the ground.

_Showtime_.

**Sorry for the long break! I know that that break pissed people off, so I probably won't be doing it again any time soon. Anyway, the next chapter _should_ be up soon-ish. I can't really make any promises right now. Well, I hope you enjoyed! R&R! **


	11. Savior

**Hello! Okay, I am so excited now. Before, I was traveling blindly in this story, but I finally found a way to tie it all together! So this will be the start of probably a much better story than I would have even ever thought of. It might get a little darker and actiony. Oh, and the spell check isn't working right now, so don't blame me for any spell errors, because I literally look at the keyboard the whole time I type this. Okay, and I actually got some reviews! I thought I would never get any! And of course I always promised to answer questions, so let's answer these. **

**CodenameReaper: I'm actually really glad you asked this. I would've probably slipped this in somewhere along the line, but I might as well say it now. You see, Joeth is kind of telepathic, in the way he can send Violet silent messages. And about the whole zombie thing, I kind of grew up knowing(I've been obsessed with zombies all my life)that if you caught the infection, you would die and then re-animate yourself, becoming a zombie. So I pretty much learned that infected are technically zombies. But I'll definitely make sure to keep that in mind.**

**ZaynaT: Actually, I was wondering when someone would tell me that. I actually skipped about a few weeks from when they first met to when Violet got kidnapped again. I'm thinking of making kind of a bonus chapter right before the final chapter, so you'll learn that it was kind of a length of time. Oh, and trust me, you're probably a better writer than me.**

**Okay, I think that's about it, so, R&R and enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs.**

Ethan pounces and I dig my nails and feet into the sides of the building. I time it perfectly, and pounce just in time to meet him head on. We crash to the ground, fighting. After a moment, I get the better of him, and build up the strength to lift him into the air and throw him at the hunter horde, knocking several back. The ones from the side get smart and pounce at me. I take them on, and when I get the chance, I slit their throats. Throwing back dead carcasses, I get ready for more that are running at me. Soon, I'm surrounded by them. Black hoods everywhere I look. I slit throats here and there, and throw punches and kicks when they get too close.

And the survivors just stand there. Watching me do all the work. Yet their guns and knives hang there by their sides.

And they think _they_ have it tough, trying to survive a zombie invasion? Imagine me, a normal kid, mauled by a hunter and thrown into the zombie world without any direction or anything. Then shot just above the head with a steel-tipped arrow to become a half-blood, and stuck with a 15 year old half-blood girl for who knows how long, shot at least 6 times, and have my heart broken?

_THEY SERIOUSLY THINK THEY HAVE IT TOUGH?_

Tough my ASS!

I decide to take out my anger on the zombies, and start slitting throats faster, dropping even more bodies onto the ground. I start swinging erratically, not watching where I hit. That, unfortunately, gives a hunter the chance to dig his teeth into my left shoulder, the exact place where I was bitten the first time. Pain sears through my body, and I give a light cry. The hunters come in closer, and I mange to shake off the one on my shoulder, and start killing off the closer ones to me. Unfortunately, more begin to follow the first one, and start biting me everywhere. My leg, my arm, my hand, my elbow, all bitten. I squint my eyes and push on through. The numbers start running low, and finally, the rest of the hunters run away. I see Ethan-I didn't kill him?- hiss at me, but retreat like the rest. I hiss back, and drop to all fours. I pant there for a moment, then try to stand again. I sense the survivors watching me, holding their breath. I'm almost halfway up when my legs give way, and I fall down, unconscious.

(Violet's POV)

"Joeth!" I yell, running over to him. I kneel down and put his head onto my lap. Ripping off his hood, I start to cry with how peaceful he looks.

Like a dead person.

"Joeth, please! Wake up!" I yell at him, hoping to see his eyes open. I hear a cry, and look to see another hunter climb down. It stands up, and I recognize the red eyes and mouth.

Madle tears her hood off, and comes running over, sliding into a kneel next to Joeth's still body.

"What happened?" she asks me, eyes serious. But as she looks at me crying, she understands. Looking down at him, she hovers her hand over the many bite marks and blood stains. Mumbling to herself, she seems to be devising a plan of some sorts.

"What?" I ask her.

She looks back up at me. "He's been bitten many times. He's still alive, but he's unconscious. If or when he dies, he'll become a full hunter." she says, then goes back to thinking.

I look desperately at the survivors. "Help me! Joeth is dying!" I scream at them hoarsely. Hale steps forward slightly, opening his mouth to say something, but Rex puts a hand on his shoulder. Hale glances over at him, but Rex just shakes his head. He glances back over at me sadly. Madle sees this too, and explodes.

"SO! JUST BECAUSE THIS POOR BOY WAS HALF ZOMBIE, YOU'RE GOING TO LET HIM _DIE_? HOW DARE YOU! YOU INCOMPETENT SURVIVING MEAT SACKS! I'VE BEEN SAVING YOUR KIND'S ASSES FOR MONTHS NOW, AND I HAVEN'T EATEN HUMAN MEAT SINCE THE FIRST WEEK I GOT TURNED. I'VE GONE THROUGH AND HAD TO DEAL WITH DECOMPOSITION AND MAGGOTS INVADING MY ROTTING FLESH, YET YOU-YES YOU!-HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING EXCEPT SHOOT AT US. HE'S HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS. AND NOW HE HAS JUST SAVED YOUR NAPPY ASSES AND IS DYING, BUT NOOOOO. YOU REFUSE TO HELP HIM. SO REALLY, YOUR SERIOUSLY GOING TO LET THIS HALF HUMAN BOY DIE BEFORE YOUR EYES JUST BECAUSE EVERY OTHER ONE OF HIS KIND HAS SNACKED ON YOUR KIND? HOW SELFISH. I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS A HUMAN. YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT, I WAS A HUMAN BEFORE. AND WHEN I WAS, I WAS ALMOST AS SELFISH AS YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. BUT, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU A DEAL HERE, SO LISTEN UP! SO, EITHER HELP OUT THIS POOR, MISDIRECTED BOY, OR LIVE WITH THE FACT THAT YOU JUST WATCHED A REAL-LIFE HERO DIE THIS NIGHT. AND KNOW THAT THAT REASON WAS _YOU_. ALL YOU. AND WHEN YOU WALK BACK INTO THE DARKNESS, REMEMBER THAT THERE'S _NOTHING THERE._" she yells at them, walking towards them and getting up in their faces. She glares at them for a moment, then turns on heel and walks back over to me.

The survivors look dumbfounded from that 5 foot nothing 15-year old half-human. They glance at each other, scared, then look back at us.

Hale swallows loudly. "We're in."

* * *

"Good" Madle grunts. "Mel! We're gonna need your help!" she yells backwards, into the alley behind us.

I hear a sniff, and a witch's head pops out from the alley. Everybody screams, and the witch does too. She whips her head back into the alley. Hale looks at Madle.

"Are you crazy? That's a witch! It'll kill us all!" he tells her.

She glares at him. "First of all, she's a fourth blood, and maybe I _should_ let her eat you, considering the dick you are."

He looks at her, surprised.

"Hey, well, we don't need lip from a short little girl." Rex says. Madle raises her eyebrows, and I gasp slightly.

"Excuse me, but I couldn't hear you there_. What'd you just call me?_" she says calmly, but has a tone as if daring him to say something.

"_I said, we don't need lip from a short, little girl." _he hisses back, and I'm surprised to see Madle's eyes literally burst into flames.

"THAT'S IT. COME'RE YA LITTLE BITCH!" she screams, throwing on her hood and pouncing onto Rex. He falls to the ground, and Madle starts slashing him and throwing punches with all the might in her little body.

* * *

(Madle's POV)

I want him dead. Now. I slash and punch him until someone tugs me up by the hood. Arms wrap around me as I hang in the air. Struggling, I hear a familiar voice speaking calmly to me.

"Shh little one. There is no need to fight this innocent human. Calm Madle, calm." it says.

I stop struggling and prop my chin up on my hand and roll my eyes, letting Mel actually feel like she's helping me.

I still want him dead.

"Madle, good, calm down Madle. Your all right."

"Done yet?" I say loudly with my mind, so that everyone can hear.

"Are you cam?" Mel asks.

I sigh silently, then hide the sarcasm in my voice. "Yes Mel, I am as calm as a jackrabbit."

"Good." Mel says, promptly dropping me on the ground. I land hard on my butt, and Mel pets me like a dog.

Growling, I crawl back over to Violet and Joeth. I sit and pull my hood off.

"Guys, this is Mel, Mel, these are the survivors." I say boredly, gesturing to Mel.

"Hello." Mel says cheerfully, extending a hand to the survivors. They stare at it in terror, and Mel sniffs.

"Madle, I don't think they...like me..." Mel drops to the ground, crying loudly. I freak out and run over to her, grabbing her hand lightly.

"No, no, Mel. They like you, they're your friends..." I look at them and mouth 'Just go along with it.'

Mel looks up expectantly, and they all nod slowly, afraid. Mel stands up, smiling. "Cool! I knew it!"

Mel turns her back and walks over to Joeth and Violet. I turn to the survivors and tell them, "Look, she's really bipolar, so I really need your guys' help with her." They nod again, and I clap my hands together and walk over to Mel.

"So, can we help Joeth?" I ask her hopefully, and Violet nods her head in agreement.

Mel sighs gravely and my heart sinks. "We have only a little time left before he changes." she says.

She holds out her hand. "Give me yours and one of the survivors hands." I look at her owl-eyed, and she grins. "I only need some blood, not your whole hand."

"Ohh... Okay, good." I say, then yell to the survivors. "ALL OF YOU, COME HERE." They walk over, and I roll up the sleeve of my jacket slightly.

"I need a boy's hand." Mel says.

"I'll do it." the boy with the hat says, and does the same as I do.

Strange, his hands look a whole freaking lot like Joeth's...

I snap back into the real world, and give my hand to Mel. She also takes the boy's hand, and gives them both a thin cut on the wrist with her claw. She takes Joeth's wrist and does the same, but right before she does, she holds onto his wrist for a moment, then lets go.

"Good. He still has a pulse." she says, then sets his wrist on her lap, and grabs ours. "Oh, and to the boy," she says, nodding her head backwards towards the boy next to me. "this is gonna hurt like hell."

"What?" is all the time the boy has left to say before she connect our wrists to Joeth's.

An electric shock jolts through me as soon as my wrist makes contact. I can tell from the way the boy next to me is gritting, and the tears coming down his face, that he's having it a lot harder than me. The connection only lasts a minute or two, until Mel breaks it. Both me and the boy stumble backwards, until we finally collapse and pass out on the alley floor.


	12. Kidnapped

**Author's Note**

**Hi! I'm so sorry for the long wait! I had school and other stories to work on. I'm trying to update every weekend at least, but it hasn't been working out too good... Anyway, I think that everybody has had a long enough wait, so let's get on with it! BTW, I really need reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs.**

I'm groggy at first, and can't remember anything, but the events come back to me. Groaning, I rub my head and sit up. I can't tell exactly where we are, but it looks like an apartment. I'm sitting on a bed, and I can hear voices from downstairs. I recognize Madle's, Mel's, and _that boy's_. There's another voice that sounds really familiar, but I can't place it. Something itches in the back of my mind, but I take it as another maggot gnawing at my brain. I slap the back of my head, hoping to kill the damn thing, then crawl out of bed. Standing up, I quickly grab onto the wall for support. My legs feel like jelly. I can just barely feel the wall, and I feel worse than when I didn't eat meat for a month.

This worries me, as this is usually how I feel right after I eat human flesh.

Well, right before I feel strong enough to lift a tank.

I locate and throw open the bathroom door. Looking in the mirror, I check my teeth. Sighing, I see there's nothing in them that I can see, but something catches my eye in the back of my mouth, and I pick it out. Holding it up to the light, I quickly drop it with a slight scream. I'd know that texture anywhere.

_Intestine._

Only then do I see the fresh blood all over my hands and jacket. I scream hoarsely, falling back and crawling over to the tub. I hear footsteps up the stairs, and Madle's voice calling me and pounding on the door to the bathroom.

"Joeth? That you?" she asks loudly, still slamming on the door.

I hesitate, then answer before she breaks the door down. "Yeah, it's me."

I hear a relieved sigh on the other side. "I'm coming in."

Quickly, I try to wipe some of the blood of my hands, but my jacket just makes them even bloodier, and it just stains my face. Madle opens the door, and takes a step in as her eyes widen at me.

"Don't let them in." I hiss, pointing at the door, which she closes quickly.

"You went crazy again, didn't you?" she says, pointing to the blood all over me.

"Uh huh!" I say, my voice overly high-pitched. I feel like crying.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa." she tells me, waving her hands in front of her as my eyes brim with tears. "I'm havin _none_ of that!"

"Madle! I just killed a person!" I say, the tears coming down now.

"Ah!" she says, recoiling at the sight of me crying. I guess I've been kind of the tough brother around her, -being two years older than her-, and she's only seen me cry once before. Suddenly she walks over to me, and takes a nail-full of blood from my face, and puts it in her mouth, tasting it.

"Male. Around 30's. About an hour ago." she says, looking up at the ceiling. She's always been good with blood, kinda like a vampire.

A half dead vampire.

"Oh that makes it better." I say sarcastically.

She shrugs. "Not meant to be."

I stare at her, searching for an answer. She puts her arms up in self defense.

"I don't have no answers, yo!" she tells me.

I sigh, standing up. I can feel the energy surge coming on, and my legs aren't wobbling anymore. I turn to Madle, and she presses a hand to the door. Her eyes glow yellow for a moment-this part always creeps me out the most-and she then takes her hand off the door. She turns back to me, her normal green eyes bright.

"They went back downstairs." she tells me, and I nod.

"Let's go join them." she tells me, and I nod again, then follow her out of the bathroom. Right as we hit the bedroom door, a huge earthquake shakes the building, and screams come from downstairs. Madle whips her head towards me, then pulls on her hood. She then clings to the wall and climbs down like a spider.

I reach for my hood, but a hand on my shoulder alerts me to someone behind me. I turn towards the prsence, and I see the boy with the hat. There's a smirk on his face, just visible beyond the shadow of his hat.

A very, oh-so _very_ familiar smirk...

* * *

(Violet's POV)

It got bad fast. there we were, sitting at the table talking, when a tank broke through freaking the wall. And-of course-there was Ethan and his little group of surviving hunters.

That's when Rex said, "You just don't know when to give up, do you?"

And Ethan said, "Nope."

And that's when the tank roared, and well, that's pretty much where we are right now.

Madle jumps down from the wall, but Ethan clicks his fingers, and a tall hunter comes from behind Madle, grabbing and holdingher in a choke hold. The hunter's tall form causes poor Madle's feet to dangle inches from the ground.

But when I turn back to look at Ethan, he's _right in front of me._

_"Hello again, Violet dear." _he says, towering over me, and rubbing his hands together_. "It's _been_ a _while_ now hasn't it?" he asks._

_"And where is that puny little half-blood, oh what's his name? _Joeth_?"_ he says, hitting a sore spot. He fakes a sigh. _"Poor girl, the boy probably doesn't care about you anymore."_

"Y-Yes he does." I stammer, standing straight up.

He merely chuckles. _"Really? And where is your lover boy?__"_ he says, towering over me even more.

"Tsk, Tsk, Ethan. You should know better than to underestimate poor little Joeth Tabelo." a terrible fake British accent makes all our heads around to see Joeth hanging with his hood off. He's hanging upside down on the wall right above the stairs, but all we can see his head.

"Yes brother, why does he doubt you?" The boy with the hat is hanging right next to him, except, well, his hat _isn't _on. And now that we see his face, he's an exact twin of Joeth.

Same shaggy blond hair, same pale skin, same deep brown eyes. It's hard to tell the difference between them, but Joeth looks a bit more skinnier.

"Quite so, Zak, but what do we do about it?" Joeth says.

"Well, I don't think he's ever gotten his ass kicked by the Tabelo brothers, has he?" Zak says in the same terrible accent.

"No, I don't think he _has_." Joeth says.

"Well, then, I think it's quite time that have it." Zak says.

"Yes." Joeth says, and they both turn their heads towards Ethan.

"Get that motherfucka'!" Zak says, breaking the accent and pointing at Ethan. At that moment, Madle touches the ground, and leans forward so the hunter holding her rolls off her back. It lands with a thunk on the floor, and Madle slits its throat with her elongated claws. Then, turning on the tank, Joeth pulls his hood on, and him and Zak drop down to the floor. But I can tell Ethan's got other plans for me. He yells out a growl to the tank, and throws me into the air. At last second, the tank catches me in a massive hand, then proceeds to roar in my face. It then turns around, and runs...with me in its clutches.

**Sorry about that long wait! Hopefully the next one will come out sooner! Don't give up on me!**


	13. Joeth Gone Crazy

**Author's Note**

**Hi! Don't worry, I didn't forget about Hoods! And trust me, never will. Anyway, I really don't have anything to say other than that I REALLY need reviews. And I mean REALLY. Wait, Boombox just informed me saying that there _is_ a review. **

**Shadow Stepper: Yeah, sorry about that, I've finally learned that Boombox Bunny has been slouching off again, so I'm trying my best to do it all myself now. So, this chapter should be a lot better. **

**Well, I think that's it, so, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs.**

We just kind of stand there a moment, until Ethan starts laughing. Zak turns to him slowly, stopping him.

Then promptly punches him in the face.

He goes down hard, and just lays there motionless. I _would_ be happy, but the girl of my dreams just got taken away by a tank.

Beacuse of him.

That bastard.

The rest of us are left staring out the huge hole in the wall, still in shock when it happens.

A splitting headache bursts through my head, and it feels like someone just jammed a sword right through the top of my head and cracked open my skull to feed my brains to the mice. I grit my teeth against it, but the pain is too great, and leaves me whitering on the ground. I know what's coming next, and brace myself for it. I get on all fours, then feel myself melt away, quickly forming the new me.

* * *

(Madle's POV)

I know what's happening from the start, with the headache to the melting. This is what happens when Joeth eats human flesh.

He goes crazy.

But his brain infected self is unpredictable, and could either murder us all with a swipe of his hand, or he could chase after the tank.

The melted Joeth forms completely, and just...stands there. Then, without warning, starts jumping off the walls.

Up and down to side to side. From every corner the new Joeth bounces, just a black blob flying between walls. Then, finally, it lands without warning right in front of me.

It looks exactly like Joeth in hunter form, except for its red swirling eyes and sharper teeth. It winks at me, then flies-yes _flies_- out the hole.

* * *

(Joeth's POV)

A tank stole my dream girl.

Do you think I would allow that?

Nuh uh.

Nope, sorry Mr. Tank, but you'll have to go hungry tonight.

Humming an old tune, I take to the ground, landing softly.

I run.

It's a matter of seconds before I catch up to that mass of meat.

Awwwww there's my Vi-Vi. She looks at me and I stick out my tongue and give her the peace sign, floating in mid-air. I then take out my dear Grammy's old teaset, pouring a cup.

I offer it to her, but my poor dear didn't want any, it seems. Shrugging, I throw the cup out, then produce another from my sleeve.

I'm _quite_ the trickster I'll have you know.

Nothing like my dear brother Zakariath.

But a trickster all the same.

I take a sip from the cup, swish it around in my mouth, then spit it out.

I hate tea.

What a pity.

I look up at Vi-Vi.

The darling looks frightened.

I'm curious why.

Surely riding on a 2 ton sack of muscles has _absolutely_ nothing to do with it.

Well, I'm off to save my damsel in distress.

I walk up to the running tank.

Oh my, my Vi-Vi has left the door closed.

And locked, when I try the handle.

I knock on the door, waiting for her to answer.

* * *

(Violet's POV)

He's lost it.

* * *

(Joeth's POV)

It looks like dear Vi-Vi won't answer. I tap my toe, waiting patiently. She just stares at me.

I point to my invisible wristwatch, asking for the time. Surely she wouldn't want to be late to the ball.

It really is invisible, you know.

I check my wrist, realizing it's 13:87 and 12 hundreths of a fourth seconds.

We'll be late if my dear Vi-Vi doesn't hurry.

I then realize I have the key.

I unlock the door and walk to her. I stick my tougue out the side of my mouth. Then, putting her over my shoulder, I walk down the invisible mid-air stairs on the tank's back.

I start walking back, slap Vi-Vi on my back, and start running.

I arrive back, only to realize I forgot my good red tux.

I'm severly underdressed.

Oh well.

I set Vi-Vi to the side on the floor, then wave at everybody.

And promptly fall flat on my face.

* * *

(Joeth's POV)

"Come on back, bud." Madle's voice breaks through the blackness. my viosion is blurred, and I wipe dirt off my face.

Groaning, I sit up, then cry out in pain and lay back down.

"Stay down Joeth." Madle says. "You effed up the muscles in your legs back there, kid."

"Is- Violet's- She's alright. Right?" I ask her, not worried about myself.

"Yeah, she's fine, dude." She says, not worried one bit about her.

Madle never did really like Violet.

Absolutely no clue why.

"Joeth?" I hear, and Madle looks up, then backs away. I see Violet come up on crutches.

She smiles. "Thanks."

"Na. You should thank my insane side." I tell her, allowing a smile to form on my face, although one of my eyes scrunches up slightly from the pain.

She laughs lightly. "No. It was you Joeth. I know it was." she says. And Madle looks down at me, then back up at Violet.

"I gotta go help the others downstairs." she says, then leaves the room, closing the door behind her. Violet looks around gently, obeserving the room.

"I'm gonna miss this place." she sighs.

I look at her, confused. "What do you mean?" I ask her, trying to sit up, but grunting and laying back down.

She looks at me. "Joeth, we're moving on. We have to find somewhere better than this crummy old place." she says.

I fidget uncomfortably.

"Something wrong?" she asks.

"Well..."

"Well...?"

"Madle and I have been talking..."

"Okay..."

"And she doesn't like humans..."

"Okay..."

"And she doesn't want to hang out with you guys..."

"What?" Violet says, dropping her crutches and dropping on the bed next to me.

I do my best to shrug. "She wants to travel, just Mel, her, and me."

"Why do you listen to her?" Violet asks.

I shift uncomfortably. "Because I feel guilty." I say quietly.

"Why?" she asks.

I hesitate, looking down. "Beacause I was the one who infected her."

Her eyes widen, but she stays calm. "And that's why you listen to her, isn't it?"

"Yea" I say.

"Well..."

"Well..."

"If you're gonna be leaving soon..."

"Once I heal, yes."

"We should make this time last." she says, her eys bright.

I look at her, confused. She just winks at me. I turn pale.

**Okay! I gotta stop it there! Anyway, PLEASE R&R, and I hope you enjoyed! Sorry for the long wait! Hopefully the next chapter will be out faster than this one.**


	14. Home

**Author's Note**

**Hi! I AM SO SORRY. I know my break was long, but I shall never forget about this story! Don't give up on me! Anyway, we have some real DRAMA going on in my reviews. Of course, one of them being my best friend... Still, it was quite, well, DIRTBAGGISH. Well at least one of the reviews was. Now I'm not trying to make enemies on here, quite the opposite. If you haven't read the two reviews, I suggest doing so. Well, here goes nothing... But first! Zak, you wanna do this first review?**

**Zak: *snickers* Gladly. **

**Zak: *rubs hands* Alright... **

**TheoneandonlyKaorin: Wow, Mitsuki's's right. You _are_ a douche bag. Lemme just start with the first thing you said. Now, Joeth's told me everything, so don't worry, I know like everything about them. Okay, well the ability to talk isn't strange, because, well they _are_ only superly transformed humans, and in some way or another, all humans can talk. And _evolved zombies_? A possibility, but not with these guys. These guys were shot right above their head, pulling their head back, and screwing with their cells, making them half bloods. So suck on that mofo! And their hoods fusing with their body? _Silly?_ Okay, first off, who the _hell_ uses silly anymore? What are you? 8? And yes, their eyes_-yes they have eyes_!-are extremely sensitive, so light hurts them. And the half blood idea? _Strange?_ How? This is a fiction after all! Actually, Ninja Sheep! You're adding Madle's story to this chapter, right?  
Me: Yeah, at the end, why?  
Zak: Cause this guy's a douchy bagger! And seriously? MORE REALISTIC? WTF? Again, FICTION! Aaron's cousin! I mean, come ON! Maybe if you didn't SUCCUMB on your KEYBOARD, maybe wouldn't make us suffer the insanity of your MOTHER EFFIN REVIEW! AND THIS ISN'T NINJA SHEEP'S FIRST STORY! THIS IS PROBABLY THEIR 80TH STORY.**

**Okay, Zak, that's enough. Thank you! **

**Zak: Alright, alright. Bye everybody! **

**Okay, sorry about Zak's outburst, but that's how he is. I'll do the second review.**

**Mitsuki64: THANK YOU MITSUKI! I COULD HAVE NEVER DONE THAT. Oh, and everybody wish Mitsuki a happy, well belated, birthday! **

**Everybody: HAPPY BIRTHDAY MITSUKI! **

**ALRIGHTTTTTTTTTTT. Enjoy and PLEASE R&R! On with the story! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs.**

The survivors snuck out from the apartment building at midnight. The half bloods were asleep, but their sensitive hearing could send them after them at any moment now. So, padding in their crumbling sneakers, the survivors pushed the door closed will the greatest of care.

"You sure you wanna take her?" Savannah asks Hale, gesturing toward Violet, who he'd currently been carrying. He looks down at her, thinking deeply. He didn't dare say where or how he found her, but he had saved her, and that was enough for him.

Rex grunts. "There's no safe place away from those half bloods that they won't follow."

Hale gulps, then looks up.

"What if... What if we were on a different planet?" he asks nervously. Zak's eyes widen, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

Rex nods gruffly. "Well, zombies can't fly, so that'd be for the best."

Zak turns to Hale, grinning, and his hands starting to glow a deep purple. Hale grins back, then gets a firmer grip on Violet.

"Ready to go homeboy?" Hale grins wider.

"Hellz yeah!" Zak replies.

"Homeboy, let's go home." Hale says as Zak's brown eyes the same purple as his hands, taking up his whole eye.

Zak holds his hands up in front of him, and a portal swirling gold and silver ribbons snaps open. But as they step through, no one notices the pair of red eyes following them.

(Shadow's POV)

The survivors scamper through their portal, but I stay on the rooftop, not wanting to miss any second of it. As soon as my master wakes up, he'll want to know every second of everything.

I know exactly where they're going. Master has talked about it only a couple times, but I know that it's where he was originally from.

The place is called Lynth. Apparently it's a planet only accessed by portals, and it's stuck in the Renaissance. Well, except, everyone there has powers. Master Zak is a healer. His friend Aaron is an angel, and his other friend is space. All I know is that anyone from there can at least open portals to and from there. I wonder what would happen if Master Joeth tried?

(Joeth's POV)

The smell wafting up from the floorboards is undoubtedly human, and tempting as it is, I've got a hangover. Zombies get it when they eat humans, and mine is especially bad from my deep decomposition level.

Besides, I didn't get much sleep last night.

I probably wouldn't have even woken up if I didn't sesnse the presense of another hunter. I can't tell if it's a friend or foe, but I have an idea on who it might be.

Steps up the stairs tell me that it's on all fours. My senses perk, but are immediately distracted by it breaking the door down. It sends it flying across the room, and lands in the corner. It scampers across the room, and I lift my head, only to be greeted by a pair of red eyes staring right into my eyes right in front of me. A sopping wet tongue to the face greets me next.

"Shadow..." I groan, attempting to push the huge wolf back. He backs up a couple steps, but still stays in front of me, tail wagging and giant tongue almost reaching the musty covers. Shadow's a sweet dog, well, technically a wolf, but a very loyal one. He's big and black with bright red eyes and sharp teeth, like mine.

Did I also mention that he's a zombie?

Fast messages sear into my mind from him, varying in different rapid questions and answers to things I didn't even ask.

"How are you?" "The survivors stole your girlfriend." "Did you sleep well?" "They're going back to Lynth." "Did you have a one night stand last night?" "Can you open portals?" "Do you have any food?" "Have you eaten brains in a while?" "Is Master Madle your girlfriend?" "Are you gonna follow the survivors?" "Can you heal like Master Zak?" "Is _Mel_ your girlfriend? "Are we going back to Lynth?" "Do you have a bone for me?" "Am I hurting you?" "SNL is a funny show." "Do you have an Ipod touch?" "Can we go for a walk?" "I like waffles with brains on them." "Can I eat chocolate? " "I need a collar." "Did you make that girl they stole pregnant?" "A new leash too." "What's a walk?" "What's Facebook?" "Why are portals gold and silver?" "Tell me now Now NOW!" With every now he says, he gets closer to my face until his nose is smashed on mine, ad I can smell his garbage-scented breath.

I look at him confused.

_"Well?" _he asks, grinning.

I just sit up, causing him to back up more. I have to say, a couple of his questions disturbed me a bit. And coming from a half zombie who has maggots as fleas, and his brains are in his stomach, that's a lot.

Yawning, I stand up and head out of the room, some coffee sounding real good right now. Shadow stares after me on the bed, before exclaiming that he'll follow me, and galloping to me, almost making me fall flat on my face.

"Master, you need to calm down." he tells me.

"No you just need to not be so hyper every time you come to see me." I reply, a little bit pissed off.

Shadow's tail and ears go down and his eyes fill with tears, his lower lip now jutting out, he looks up at me.

"Shadow..." I moan, trying to get away from his sad look. "Not now..." But Shadow just keeps looking at me, the tears at the brim now, and his whimpering at the max.

"Fine!" I say, squatting down and giving the huge wolf a hug.

"Yay!" he says, putting his paws on my shoulders and licking my face half to my 2nd death.

"Alright, come on boy." I say, stomping down the steps, Shadow right behind me.

I swear, that dog's like a real shadow.

* * *

The hunters left with their dog and friend almost 15 minutes after the survivors. They tracked through the back alleys with ease and care, not leaving anything behind but footsteps. But as many distractions as there were, one question stuck in Joeth's mind like super glue.

It was one of the many questions that Shadow had asked him.

He couldn't figure out why he couldn't shake it; it was just like all the questions Shadow had ever asked him.

"Can you open portals?" That same question replayed in Joeth's head over and over like a broken record. Over and over and over.

But he finally spent some time on it, and now a new question interested him.

_Could_ he really open a portal?

**Alright, I've decided that Madle's story will a bonus chapter later one, but so far, this is the end of part one. Part two should be up sometime this week, because I'm on spring break right now. (YES!) Well, anyway, I'm going to give you guys a preview of part two. Well, enjoy and R&R! (I forgot to say that at the beginning, didn't I? I'll go back and fix it...) **

1 Year Later

Portals snapped open all around Joeth's herd of zombies, trapping them.

_"I'm not going down like this." _

Letting out a cry, a huge tank roared forward, but the psychics easily sent it flying into a building. A cry of frustration rang through the night, and Joeth charged one of them, landing a direct hit. Landing a bit in front of them, he back-flipped back, and grabbed hold of them. Biting deep into their neck, blood squirted into his mouth. Ripping the body from the head, he threw both into his horde for them to feed on. Turning back to the Lynthians, he charged again. Vines broke through the ground behind him, rushing forward and grabbing him. Tearing through them with ease, he jumped again.

"Now!" somebody shouted, and a net surrounded Joeth, trapping him in. He tumbled forward, straining to reach his hand forward toward them, but the psychics sent his hand flying back to him, almost smacking himself. Turning back to the horde, he discovered that they, too, were covered in nets. He turned to glare at the Lynthians, but they started to lift everyone into the air, and into the portals.

Struggling inside the net, Joeth found its weakness, and tore through it. Now free, he fell to the ground. Rushing toward them again, he was instead grabbed by the front of his hood by one of them.

The boy chuckles, his naturally eagle-yellow eyes bright, and black and red hair perfectly shining, he couldn't have been more than his mid-twenties.

"Boys, I think we found our leader here." he says to those behind him. Joeth hisses at him, red eyes full of hate. Another cry rings out, signaling to Joeth that they're out. Grinning, Joeth stops struggling, and just looks at the boy straight in the eye.

Behind him, he hears Madle fly through the air, tackling the black and red haired boy to the ground. Another hunter comes right behind Madle, but it soon changes into its original wolf form. It then takes down one of the other Lynthians, doing the natural hunter way.

By ripping the fuck out of them obviously.

But by the time Joeth gets to them, they're all in nets again, Joeth included.

"Get them in. NOW." the boy with the weird hair says in a commanding way. Soon, they're all being lifted into the portals.

"Let's get back to the castle." the boy says gruffly.

And one thought sears into Joeth's mind before the silver and gold ribbons inside the portal surround him.

_Lynth._

**And that's going to lead into my favorite story I've ever written, Lynth. This story has taken a different turn than I planned originally. I think my grammer is better in this chapter, so please tell me if it has. Anyway, that's the beginning of part two. Well, I hope you enjoyed! R&R!**


	15. Draliths don't agree with Hale

**Author's- aw you all know what the hell this is. **

**Wazzup pplz? Sorry, I'm just so bored... Anyway, thanks for not givin up on me! I lost no author alerts or favorites-and yes I know exactly who and when added me on either of them-! I'M SO EXCITED! Okay, so let me give you some background (and YES I updated my Bioshock fanfic finally!) on my other story, Lynth. Now, actually almost every story I've written has at least one character that originated from Lynth in it. Yeah, that's right, Joeth, Madle, Hale, Rex, Lily(Violet), Zak, heck, even Ethan! They're all from Lynth! Even on my other stories, they're all from Lynth. I guess you could call it the parent story of every tale I've ever told. I also find that when I write on/about it, my grammer gets better. But, anyway, I had the idea of Lynth from when I was 7 up until now. So, it's been an ongoing story. And every time I had an idea, I would write it down on a little piece of paper; whatever I could find at the moment. And over the years, the story stitched itself together, and it's become this now. Actually, Hoods is actually the backstory of one of the main characters,Zak,'s twin brother, Joeth and how he came to be into the castle-in Lynth. Now, don't be concerned; there's still a couple chapters left of this story, and I'ma make them the best. Now the beginning is in the main character, Aaron,'s POV, so bear with me. But pretty much what's happening is the castle's being invaded, and, well, you'll see what happens. **

**^  
**** l**

**O.o almost 300 words...! Holy shit... **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my story Lynth, and all my OCs. **

The first thing I see is Deran, running away screaming, his blond hair in a fit, his arms flailing. Any other time, I would have definently laughed my head off, and I was about to, until I looked behind him.

_Hundreds _of them, those Draliths. With, of course, Lazarath right smack in the middle, his serpent-like body towering a good 10 feet above the Draliths. But that's not what I care about right now. Lazarath is looking directly at _me. _And he's grinning.

Lazarath+Grinning= He knows something I don't- which is not good at all. Trust me, it's not good when he grins. Or smiles. Or anything happy for that matter.

* * *

My sneakers squeak as I run around the corner, screaming. I might as well have just broken the damn door down, because as soon as I burst into the Zak and Ed's room, the door breaks off its hinges.

"ED! AARON BROKE THE DOOR DOWN AGAIN." Zak throws his head back and yells when he sees me. "And kid," he tells me. "if you came here for my advice,-he points at me- you're never gonna get a chick lookin like _that_."

"I'm not here for advice Zak! The castle is being invaded!" I yell at him. Sometimes Zak's ignorance to anything I say can be quite annoying.

"What was that?" Ed's voice comes from the distance of the room, undoubtedly from his collection of huge computers.

"The castle is being invaded!" Zak turns his head to shout, never breaking eye contact with me.

"Should we be worried?" Ed calls back.

"I don't know! Lemme check!" Zak calls back then faces directly at me.

"Should we be worried?"

"Oh, maybe just a little bit- OF COURSE YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" I yell at him, throwing my hands up into the air.

Zak seems a bit startled at this, but his reaction is broken by a quiet voice right next to me.

"What's going on?" We all turn to see-of course-my freaking crush, Eliza.

"Oh nothing much." I say as nonchalontley as possible, leaning against the doorframe.

"You sure? 'Cause I just heard you...yelling from down the hall..." she says, looking concerned and pointing down the hall.

I just stare and smile at her blankly.

_Dear God, freaking WHY?_ I scream in my head. Why does nothing go my way? God, I wish someone would just come running down the hall so they could take the blame for the screams.

"THE DRALITHS!" Hale comes running down the hall right next to me, but I pay no attention as he runs screaming, knocking right into poor Serena carrying a laundry basket.

"He-llo Serena," he says with a grin on top of her.

"Um, hi Hale." she says looking up at him with uncertainty.

He just grins down at her, his eyes narrowed.

"Um, Hale?"

"Yeees?"

"You're kind of...on top of me..."

"Am I?"

"Yeah."

"Mmmm hmmm...!"

"Could you...get off of me?"

"Hm? Na. I kinda don't want to."

"Yeah Hale! Puttin the moves on Serena!" Zak yells out from the door.

At that point, Serena finally pushes him off her and starts to get up.

"Hale, you are _so weird_." she says, struggling to stand.

"I know." Hale says, getting up easily.

"Anyway..." I start, but am cut off by Maximus running down the hall.

"Aaron!" he says, grabbing my shoulder. "The castle is being attacked, and if it gets really bad, I need you to _pull the switch_. You got that?" he pants to me.

"What now?" I ask him, fear in my voice.

"Gather up the princesses and run!" he tells me, then turns and runs off.

A couple minutes later, and all 8 princesses are there.

"Okay! Let's go!" I tell them, then lead them all down the hall.

We start running a couple minutes after the hall lights on fire. Ruby, the fire princess, has no problem going right through the flames, but the rest of us do, and we all run around. Finally, we all turn around in time to see Lazarath's face in the flames. We all stop in horror as Draliths climb all over the walls, covering every inch of the huge hallway. Lazarath is grinning as we run through the flames away from them, coughing. It's only going to get worse, so I make a quick decision. I tell them to stay there, then break away and run towards a wall covered in flames, and slump against it, coughing. I reach up blindly, searching desperately. I can feel the flames edging closer to me, and all the monsters hidden in them starting to snap their jaws. Finally, I grab a small lever and rip it down with all the strength I have left.

And that's when all hell breaks loose.

* * *

We can feel the ground shaking beneath us, and roars coming from everywhere. I run through the flames and join back up with the group. I pull them all towards a hallway not lit in flames in time to see a black flash at the end of the hallway, followed by hundreds of creatures running behind it. With another jump, the black flash stops in front of me, revealing itself.

It looks like a human being, but it has on a filthy black jacket covered with stains-most likely blood- and dark blue jeans. It has its hood on, but two unnaturally large red eyes and a mouth full of sharp fangs show through it. Quite frankly, its eyes and teeth don't look real. A lot more like they're just sitting like holograms above its hood. Kinda like a cartoon.

A second after it lands, the smell of rotting flesh smacks us all in the face. For most of us, it takes all our strength not to cringe or pull our shirts over our noses. But as soon as it-she- takes its-her- hood off, the smell fades away.

The...well, whatever it is, isn't very tall, and has dark green eyes, greasy dark blonde hair, and deathly pale skin with faded freckles scattering the ridge of her nose. She then stands up straight and puts her hand to her head in a salute.

"Sir! The horde and I are ready for battle!" she says, her voice a bit loud and even a bit hoarse.

I hesitate, then point behind me. "Lazarath and the Draliths. Kill 'em." I pant slightly. Okay, I'm in shape, but when I don't have to run, I prefer not to.

She nods fiercely, and glancing into the crowd, I swear I see her glare a bit. But I figure it's just my imagination.

With one movement, she rips her hood over her head, and backflips back to her group, which is filled with gruesome creatures with deforimties of varying sizes. She then lets out an unearthly cry, and as she runs in front, the rest of the 'horde' run behind her.

And as they round the corner, I lead my group away.

I'd never pulled that switch before.

Half of me wants to go around the corner and see what those things are doing.

And half of me never wants to pull that switch again.

* * *

(Lily's POV)

As soon as I saw Madle, my heart stopped beating for a moment. I could feel Zak nudge me slightly, and we shared a look. We both knew who else was in that horde.

Wherever she was, I learned, Joeth would be there.

**Alright! I'm ending it there. FYI: If you haven't figured out, Lily is "Violet" but there's already another Violet, and she was supposed to be named Lily, but I was nervous when I wrote that chapter with her name. So putting it simply, I messed up her name. Anyway, so just remember that. I don't know when I'll update next, SO DON'T PUSH ME... Yeah. Well, I'm sorry it took me so long, but it's summer, so I'm constantly busy. Well, BYE! Oh...yeah...R&R and I hope you enjoyed. (Not really) **

**Lol **

**-Afternote- **

**I just realized how awkward it is to sit at a computer for an hour or two straight with your mom sitting behind you on the couch quite possibly looking at what your writing this very moment because she's nosy and overprotective and my brother is too much of a douche bag and won't let me use the laptop because he thinks he owns it god he needs to move out... **

**I KNOW YOU'RE WATCHING MOM. **

**...Okay, that was just to get this story up to 2,000 words-I failed(it's only 1,939). Well bye for real! (Please R&R and I actually do hope you enjoyed this quite late chapter.)...Or do I? O.o**


	16. Bonus Chapter Joeth's Past

**Author's Note **

**Originally, this was just an extra part, written purely for myself, but I decided to make it a bonus chapter since the story is drawing to an end soon(or is it? O.o)I've decided I might do this kind of thing sometimes(saving room for the actual story though). Now, this chapter is important if you read it until the end because that's part of the next chapter, so READ TILL THE END MOFO! Oh, and let's be mature after the third line, this is a **_**T**_** rating my friends. And if you want an explanation of **_**why**_** exactly, well, that's just who he is. Oh, and hi, R&R, and I hope you enjoy this bonus chapter(it's kinda long...)! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead(obviously) but I do own all my Ocs.**

Joeth could remember a time in his past where he could put on his hood and still stay sane.

He remembered when him and his friends would play zombies in the school yard. But Joeth was never one of the zombies. He was always a survivor, shooting on the sidelines. And if the 'zombies' reached the survivors, the game was over. There was never anything after the zombies found the humans.

He remembered how it felt to take his jacket off in the summer, to feel the cool breeze after being under his blistering hot black jacket in the sun.

He remembered how they would all laugh when talking about anything fantasy, persay, zombies. Oh how his wished zombies were all just fantasy. Anything was better than being a zombie. Especially a half-blood.

"Sometimes fantasy is better than reality, son." His dad had once told him. It was after the twins' mom had left on her train, and Joeth was lost in his imagination. His dad had tried several attempts to get his attention, but Joeth was too lost in his thoughts-as he usually was. Finally, his father's words reached him, and Joeth shook his head slightly, rustling his short blond hair under his cap. Looking up at his dad with his big brown eyes wide, his father gave a laugh, and told him those exact words.

His boys had dressed the same that day, with caps on and dark grey jackets clinging to them in the winter chill. The twins hated dressing the same, but today was special.

Joeth remembered other things from that particalar memory. Like how his mother had hugged both him and his brother while his father stood in the shadows. Joeth had allowed Zak to go first- he didn't really have a choice; Zak was more toughly built, while Joeth got the short end of the stick, and was more skinny and lanky. Zak had run up to their mom with tears in his eyes, so it was either get tackled by him, or wait his turn, and Joeth was the patient twin, so he waited. After Zak had sobbed in their mom's arms for a couple minutes, she then held his face and kissed his forehead. Zak backed up, his eyes puffy, and Joeth took his turn.

"Take care of Zak, Joeth." she whipspered, and he nodded. She then kissed his forehead as the train whistled.

Joeth stepped back with Zak, who still had tears streaming down his face. Seeing his brother cry, Joeth looked back at where their mother was waving, now in her seat, and tears welled up in his own eyes. He remembered how Zak ran to the end of the landing, trying desperately to keep up with the train. And when the end came, he stopped and stood there until the train was out of sight, and stood there minutes afterward.

Finally, Joeth and his dad walked up to him, and his dad put a hand on each of their backs and kneeled down. Their father was a tall man, and especially at the twins' age of 7, towered over them even when he was kneeling.

"It'll be alright boys." Their dad said quietly. He always seemed to be whispering, but they always could hear him.

"I'll always be here for you boys." he said.

And the boys never saw their mom again.

But when they got home, there was a present on the twins' beds from her.

They opened them.

At first, Joeth couldn't see what Zak got, but what he got made him wonder.

It was a black jacket.

Joeth groaned. He knew he couldn't study with the noise of bed springs above him. He stared at the screen for a moment before his stomach growled loudly. Chewing the inside of his cheek for a moment, he shut the laptop and got off the couch to go see if their uncle had even bothered gone to the store recently.

After their father died when they were 9, the twins lived with their uncle, who was a drunk and almost never did anything else but stay at the bar all day. Sometimes, he even forgot to come home. But after 7 years, the boys had grown used to having to take care of themselves.

And as Joeth opened up the fridge, the smell of rotted food smacked him in the face. Coughing, he squinted open his eyes to see rotted cheese, spoiled milk, and a sad-looking banana. Still coughing, he closed the fridge and sighed. It looked like he would need to go get more groceries. _Again_.

Striding over to the couch for his keys, Zak comes bouncing down the stairs.

"Wat's up, bro?" he asks, a grin on his face. He was only in his boxers, but that was probably the most decent Joeth had seen his twin in a while.

Joeth just grunted, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. "I'm going to the store..." Joeth murmured, grabbing his wallet on the table next to the couch.

His brother shrugged, then went over to the couch and sat down, grabbing the remote.

Right on Joeth's keys.

Rolling his eyes, he went out the front door and broke the old lock on the garage door. Clearing away the cobwebs, he went over to where his old skateboard was. It looked sturdy enough to hold him, and when he stood on it, the board creaked and caved, but held. But when he tried bouncing, the board snapped in half. Sighing, Joeth looked around the room, but all he could find was Zak's old bike. Joeth never learned to ride one, and Zak had stopped using his bike when he was still in grade school. Joeth was always scared of bikes, but his hunger started hurting him. And he knew that his uncle or Zak sure as hell wouldn't get them. And though Joeth was scared, he ripped the bike off the wall and rolled it out. Taking a deep breath, he got on and stated pedaling.

Joeth was a natural. He didn't fall or wobble much, and he was actually enjoying himself, his hunger forgotten for now. His hood had flown off, and his blond hair blew out behind him. When he finally got to the store however, he discovered a problem.

Where would he put the bike?

Looking around, he became more and more worried. He couldn't just leave it here-he didn't live in a very nice part of town. Then, with a sigh, he made sure no one was around, he promptly pushed it into a bush.

By the time Joeth was done, all the food had gotten heavy in his arms and the afternoon was turning to dusk. Joeth didn't want to ride home with a bunch bags after dark, but he had no choice. Dumping all of it onto one of the register's moving things, he looked up at the cashier and his breath caught in his throat-she went to his school. Catching his brown eye with her blue, she smiled and Joeth looked away, trying not to blush. Straightening up, he went over to pay, and she started to talk to him.

"Hey, you go my school, don't you?" she asked, still smiling-she was very pretty. Joeth just looked down and nodded.

"You don't talk much, do you?" she asked. He shook his head, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"I've never heard you talk before, ya know?" she sais, still packing up the groceries and trying to catch his eye.

He shrugged. "I guess I just don't really have anything to say."

She smiled as he fianlly looked up at her. "I never caught your name..."

"Joeth..." witha slight hesitation-he had never really talked to a girl before, so he stuck out his hand.

She giggled, then shook it back. Joeth blushed as her eyes met his again, and he quickly pulled his hand away, looking immediately down to the floor.

"Hey, how did you get here? Cuz, I can give you a ride home if you need one." she said, pointing out the store window.

Joeth shook his head, eyes still on the floor. "No, no, i-it's ok." He quickly grabbed the groceries, murmered a thank you, then got the hell outta there before he embarrassed himself even more. By this time, his face was fully magenta and his feet couldn't carry him any faster to his brother's bike in the bushes. It was dark now, and Joeth had a bad feelng welling in his throat that his brother's bike might not be there.

_Shoulda taken that ride home now with that girl Joeth _his conscious told him.

"No!" he told it back-inhis head, of course; it was more often than he'd like to say that he talked back to that little itching voice in his head, but today, he felt it needed an answer.

_You like her, don't you Joeth?_ it mocked him.

"If I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell _you!_" Joeth replied hotly. Finally he came upon the bush that held his brother's bike, or as he realized minutes later-_used to_.

Joeth stared in disbelief at the bush until he felt a hand on his shoulder, making him jump.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" it was the girl from his school.

His chest tightened and his heart skipped a beat, but he managed to spit out, "No, it's ok."

She smiled, and her eyes did too-making his heart stop again. "Well, ya know, my offer is still up." she looked at him.

Joeth hesitated, looking over the bush and back. "Um, actually..." he put his hand behind his head and looked over to the side.

She puled out her keys and smiled. "C'mon Joeth."

The entire car ride home was quiet-neither talked. Joeth was the first-surprisingly-to break the silence when he realized something-

"I-I never got your name." he said quietly.

She laughed and glanced over at him. "Kristy."

He nodded, then kept quiet the whole way until his house drew near.

He opened his mouth to say something, but she had already turned onto his street, causing him to look at her, confused.

She glanced over at him, then replied rather quietly, "The whole school knows where Zak lives..."

Of course, his first thought was: 'SHE KNOWS ZAK?' Which, was of course, followed immediately by: 'Well he must have fucked her.'

But as many times as Zak had had girls over 'studying', he didn't remember a Kristy, and surely he would have immediately recognized her-how could anyone foget what _she_ looked like? But then again, Zak was probably the most popular boy at school-all the boys thought he was awesome, all the girls thoguht he was hot. Joeth had the same naturally good looks, but he was more misfited than prep. Besides, Zak had the sharper features, slightly longer hair, deeper set eyes, and the more toughly built body-not that he would take advantage of it to build actual muscle, the lazyass. Joeth was lanky and skinny- still undountebly handsome- but less defined features, slightly shorter hair, and brighter eyes. The two boys were Yin and Yang.

Joeth was a sweet boy nonetheless, while Zak would much rather be out getting illegally drunk and partying, Joeth would rather find a good book or study up for a big test. And as much as they were Yin and Yang, so were their grades in school.

But when Kristy was pulling up to his house, that was the last thing he was thinking.

"Thank you..." he said, grabbing the groceries and closing the passenger side door.

"No prob Joeth, expect to see you arund school?" she asked, her eyes bright. Joeth nodded-what else could the boy do?;he was stuck to the ground. She smiled and the front screen smacked close to the house, causing Joeth to look around in time to see Zak-fully dressed this time-chugging a beer can as he walked out. Joeth waved bye to Kristy, and she drove away.

Next thing he knew, Joeth was encased in his twin's version of putting his arm around his shoulders. But as uncomfortable as Zak's hold was and the smell of alchohol reeking from him, Joeth didn't notice any of it, not even Zak trying to speak to him, nor how the stench from his breath smacked Joeth in the face.

He was too lost in thought.

The hammock creaked underneath Joeth's weight as he stood up. His brown eyes cut through the darkness on the giant cell, revealing gruesome creatures known as the undead. He would be scared-any normal teen would-had he not been one himself. With a wince, he took a step forward. His old, run-to-the-ground Vans had been replaced with Converse too small for him, and his uncut nails were not helping his situation as they desperately pushed against the rubber, only to be ground deeper into poor Joeth's toes. As soon as they had gotten here, the Lynthians had branded all their ankles with the Lynthian guards symbol, stitched up their clothes, and had even cut Joeth's hair to his ears. Still being part human, Joeth could still feel pain-not only physically, which is why he hadn't eaten the first couple months they had been in here, knowing damn well who was also inside the castle. Joeth had grown weak from that, and became all skin and bones without any muscles-he could barely jump. Madle didn't like that he wouldn't eat, and despised how Violet-or Lily, as they learned the day they came here-had caused this. Deeming her hatred towards her.

"Don't blame her," Joeth had told Madle. "I'm the one who's starving myself-not her." Joeth still had hope back then-hope that maybe Lily hadn't found anybody, maybe, just possibly, she still loved him.

Madle had snorted. "Well it's your daydreaming about _her_ that caused you to look this _this_." she gesture towards the way Joeth's jacket hung even looser around his skinny frame.

Joeth shrugged. "I'm losing weight." Joeth smiled softly, Madle rolled her eyes and walked away.

But after that, Joeth had really got down to thinking-he really was losing weight rapidly, and if he lost anymore, surely he would die for real. And his hope was lost more and more by the day. Of course, the day he had gotten his eyebrow piercing wouldn't be forgotten for how much he had changed that day. A poor, starving witch had freaked out when she smelled humans outside the door and had pounded the door, crying. Joeth had stepped in, pulling her away from the door. But she had turned around and struck him, she had missed mostly, but her middle one had gotten straight through his eyebrow and Madle, Mel, and Shadow all had to help pull it out. It was bloody and hurt, and Joeth was miserable for days. Then, as an afterthought, Mel had taken off the piercing of a scene infected and had promptly stuck it through the hole in his eyebrow. Handing him a part of a broken mirror with a smile, he saw that it covered up the blood and didn't look half bad.

"Thanks Mel..." he told her, a smile on his lips. Mel giggled and he hugged her. Before, Mel had been his height, but he had grown since they came here, and now stood and head taller than her, and a head and a half over Madle.

Other than that those changes, Joeth had started eating again-making Madle very happy- and built up some muscle-making Mel very happy- once all his hope was gone with Lily. But Joeth had become, well, more serious over the time his hope was rapidly fading and was, well, a bit mean. Madle pretended not to notice-she didn't want him to starve again- but deep down, she was worried again. And by the time they had been in that cell for 6 months, Joeth's heart was turned to stone, and he seemed angry all the time. And as Madle believed, it all led back to that stupid girl, Lily.

And for that reason, Madle hated Lily.

**Alright! It's heating up a bit here, and that's exactly where I'm gonna leave you. Next chapter out when I get the time(I wrote most of this in the time I was supposed to be updating Return-sorry Return fans), which really isn't much. Anyway, this chapter is actually over 3,000 words(more than any other chapter on here) so I hope this counts as two chapters (:D)! But if I did, you guys would find me in the future and probably eat my first born child O.o, SO I won't. Anyway, real chapter out hopefully soon, blah blah blah. Bye! PLEASE REVIEW CUZ I NEED TO KNOW IF IT WAS WORTH IT TO POST THIS BONUS CHAPTER AND I'M STUCK ON CAPS LOCK!...**

**FUCK YEA CAPSLOCK **

**Well, bye! (Hey! It's gone! :D)**


	17. Hunter's House of Mirrors

**Author's Note **

**Uh, hi guys... Um, all I have to say-I also said this on my profile, but I don't know if anyone will read that...- is that something big has come up, and I'll be taking a break-NOT ABANDONING-from here until I get this figured out...but let's just say if I lose one more thing close to my heart, I'm becoming fully emo...and DAMN it is hard to type through tears...On a different note... Anyone like ma new avatar? I got it on google-and it's not how Joeth looks, but I thought it was close enough...maybe I'll draw a picture of Joeth... I don't know... Anyway, I be back on I don't know when(my friend's gonna be comin back from Arizona soon, so I'ma be playin A LOT of Nazi Zombies-she doesn't own Left 4 Dead...:(...but oh well...maybe I'll make it past level 17...lol-ftw?) Well, R&R and review... **

**God, I really was depressing wasn't I? Anyway, I've made it to level 31 thank you very much! Although it's still not the best thing I've ever been good at.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Left 4 Dead, but I do own my OCs. **

**(I'ma make this as long and exciting as possible...) **

The Lynthian guard brand isn't helping-as much as they think it may-the pain in my right leg won't subside. I wince in pain as I try to stand up from my hammock, and end up slouching back, groaning. Suddenly, I feel something rough and wet against my ankle, and I look down to see Shadow licking the brand. He knows it hurts, and I feel bad-his leg was too skinny, so they did it on his hip-every time he walks now, he limps. I reach down and scratch his head, he looks up at me with big red eyes.

"Master..." he whimpers.

"I know, I know." I reply, still petting him. Then, hearing footsteps, we both look up in time to see Madle and Mel walking toward us. They stop in front of us, and Shadow jumps in next to me, putting his head in my lap for attention. I rub his neck and his ruby red eyes close contently.

"Joeth..." Mel says, concerned.

"What?" I ask her, slightly concerned. No not about them, but what exactly they were going to talk to me about.

Madle sighs. "We know you've been thinking about her again." Her tone is harsh, and I raise an eyebrow to it.

"You've gotten skinnier again, and...you've been quite violent..." Mel says quietly, her head low and her yellow eyes looking at me.

My grip tightens on Shadow's neck and he whimpers, but I ignore it. I feel my mood darken to hatred. Who're they to tell me I'm 'violent'?

I feel my nails break skin on the wolf's neck and finally Shadow lets out a large yelp, jumping down from the hammock out of my grasp. I begin to growl at the three as they stand there staring at me in shock. The blood from Shadow's neck drips from my fingers down onto the concrete floor, breaking the silence with its fragile noise.

"I...don't know what..you're talking..about..." I growl through gritted teeth. Mel lets out a breath and steps back in fear. Madle stands her ground and looks at me, her deep green eyes hard.

"Joeth. You're turning again. And this time,-the claws on her left hand grow and sharpen-I'm _not_ afraid to hurt you." Madle tells me, no fear in her eyes or voice. My eyes darken again before going regular again, and I raise my head to see them.

I grunt at them, then stand up and push past towards the restroom.

* * *

I splash cold water on my face, then hold onto the sides of the sink, thinking. I watch as the dirt and blood from my face drips into the already blood-covered sink, then slide down the drain. I sigh, looking up at my reflection in the grimy mirror. I look just like any other teenager, except maybe a bit more stressed and tired, and I can't deny that I'm not in any way ugly, except, maybe inside...

"You know, Joeth, maybe you _are_ going crazy..." I snap my eyes up again in time to see my reflection in all its glory-a smirk on its face and blood red eyes aglow- staring right back at me, talking to me.

"What would _you_ know? You're not even real." I counter defensively, my nails digging into the sides of the sink.

"I may not be real," it replies. "but I'm right, you know."

I stand up straight, fists clenching and eyes hard on the mirror. "You're not. I'm perfectly fine." I say that more to convince myself, I'll admit.

"Tsk. Tsk. Joeth. You shouldn't doubt yourself." It's mocking me now.

"I'm not doubting myself! I'm doubting _you_! And you're not me!" I raise my voice to it, but its tone stays steel sharp and cool.

"Oh but I _am, _Joeth. And someday soon, you'll be _just like me_." It grins. I want to make it wipe that smirk of its face, teach it to mess with me.

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" I scream, throwing a tightly clenched fist at the mirror, shattering it and the mocking image of me. Glass surrounds the floor around me, and I back up till my back hits the wall, then slide down it onto the broken glass with a slight crunch. I bring my knees up to my chest, sliding glass with them, and slowly, I put my head in my hands, breathing unsteadily.

I'm going insane.

* * *

(Lily's POV)

I lay back on the green silk bedsheets with a sigh. There's nothing to do around here in the castle, and napping wasn't an option as I've realized, after many failed attempts at falling asleep. And since the entire knigdom is stuck in the middle ages, pretty much all electronics aren't allowed. So goodbye cellphone, IPod, computer...

There's a knock at the door, and I don't bother lifting my head up to see who it is.

"Can I come in?" I hear, and the familiar voice makes me lift my head up. The door slowly opens, and a boy's head pops in.

"You ok?" Aaron asks. He's a sweet boy, he brought us all here, and I think he has a thing for Eliza, but either way, he's a friend, and about a year older than all of us.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I lie, and he can sense it, because he closes the door and kneels down next to the bed, looking at me.

"What's wrong?" he asks me, I don't think he's psychic- he's a Scritch, so he has no powers-but he can always tell when someone's lying.

I sigh. "Can you keep a secret?"

He nods, and it all comes spilling out. Joeth, Madle, the entire zombified world, the clans set up there, its connection to Lynth, everything. And at the end, he stares at me slightly surprised.

"And that's it..." I didn't tell him one part though, but that's not important, and although I feel bad about keeping secrets from Aaron, it was for a good reason.

"Well," he puts a hand behind his head and scratches behind his neck. "that sure sounds tough, but maybe you'll be able to get some sleep now, after getting all that off your chest." I nod.

"I'll see ya round I guess, then." He stand up and heads for the door.

"Hey Aaron?" I stop him halfway out the door. "Thanks." I reply, smiling slightly.

Aaron smiles back. "You're welcome Lily, now have a good nap."

He leaves, and I roll over, falling asleep quickly.

* * *

I walk down the hall toward the library, it's the only place I can really read in peace. I keep my head down while I walk, keeping eye contact with the small green ribbons to my flats and the marble beneath them. I don't know many people in this castle, and I'm no good with meeting new people. I know everyone knows me and my sisters, but I just can't keep up.

"Hello there..." I feel myself get pressed against the cold wall, and I look to my attacker, only to find two chocolate brown eyes staring back at me. My heart leaps for a moment, but it sinks just as fast, remembering that it couldn't be him.

"Hi Zak..." I reply, putting a hand to his chest and pushing him off me. He steps back, eyes to the ceiling and hands up like he just got caught by the police or something. I roll my eyes, then start walking again, and he joins me.

"So..." he says, flipping his shoulder length blond hair and putting his arms behind his head. "Didja hear about that new defense thing we got?"

"No." I reply, looking ahead. I'm trying to ignore him, but it's hard to ignore someone as loud as he is.

"Well..." He puts his hands down into his hoodie's pocket and actually looks concerned for once.

Uh oh.

"It...They're...They..." he sighed. "They went over, the Lynthian guards, over to-he swallows-the other world. and they captured them in millions." I look over at Zak finally, to find that his eyes are soft and looking straight ahead.

"All of them. Some of the were killed, but most of them are now being used for a new defense system they have." he continues. "The two they chose as the leaders, they're Hunters. With..."

He swallows again, and there's a hint of something in his eyes-sadness? fear? It's a mix.

"...red eyes..." he finishes, swallowing again. I can tell now that he's scared. Well I'm not showing it, but I'm scare too.

He turns to me. "Do you think...?" he begins it, but I already know what he's going to ask. It's the obvious question on my mind too.

"I don't know." I tell him. "I mean, it's possible that there's other half bloods out there, isn't it? I mean, it doesn't neccesarily mean that..."

I don't say anymore, but he knows what I'm saying. Zak and I have built a strange relationship- it's a little more than brother-sister, but it can be sometimes like it. I've never thought of him as Joeth's twin brother, they were just too different for me to ever think like that. And I've never thought of Zak as anything more than a friend. But I have noticed that, well, every girl he meets, he _does_ tend to flirt with them, and, erm, he does go a bit more than "_further_" with some...

A thought flashes my mind, and I shake my head vigorously, hoping to get the image out of my head before I could fully see what it exactly was.

"I gotta go." I tell Zak bluntly, walking away and leaving him standing there, a confused look descending upon his face.

"Well bye..." he puts a hand behind his head, confused, then finally shakes his head, turning and walking back to Ed's room.

"Women..."

**Okay guys, sorry for the false hope before, anyway, my birthday was on Nov. 5th, so I've been a little busy...doin stuff...anyway, I'll have next chapter out Christmas-ish? I dunno, it's whenever I find time. R&R! Hope ya enjoyed! Byee**


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